Life has a tendency to blindside you every now and then. These last few days have been a big challenge for me and my mental health. Testing my strength and my belief in myself. When you are faced with adversity, how easy it is to have your mind and thoughts drift away. Until you realize you are stronger than the challenge you face. It is all in the process.
Challenge
I love my job. Everyone knows, because it is true. I actually look forward to going to work every day. The company is nowhere near perfect. The staff are super nice. And work itself is a constant challenge. It is something that allows the analytical side AND the creative side of me to flourish. But recently I was looking at an opportunity to advance in the company. Unfortunately, it is not my time yet.
This setback hit me harder than I expected. It opened a door for me to start questioning my abilities. Questioning if I was good enough to even try. It hurt and it made me hurt. Now I know that in no way was this the end. That this opportunity was not gone from my grasp. But that didn’t matter at that moment. Because, to me, once again I was not good enough to advance….well according to my mind.
Reality
The denial of the advancement was in no way about me personally. The decision maker does not know me at all. It was not about my work or any perception of me. It was a greater thought they had about the department. And it took me all day to fully process the reality of the situation. And it took crying, screaming, and hours of depression to process it all.
The reality is that I am good enough. I have other managers and executives that believe in me. My quality of work is good enough too. This setback was really not about me.
Moving on
For 24 hours I was depressed and found myself struggling to move forward. Every thought was fought with negativity. But then I started pushing back. Thinking deeper into the bigger picture. And most importantly, I used my support team to help me break through the darkness of my thoughts. I pulled in my strength and broke down the negativity. By the end of the day, I was standing tall again ready to fight for what I wanted.
We are going to get setbacks and challenges every day of our lives. Some days will be great and wonderful. Other days will be like a dark sky all day long. We are strong enough to fight back. Each of us is good enough to get what we need in life. And if we find ourselves trapped in one of those super dark days, reach out to your support. It is okay to not be okay, and even better when we have help to get us out of it.
Enjoy this video.
With great warmth.
