It is often said that whenever one door closes, another opens. These past weeks have been all about closing up for me. At work I’ve officially been tagged as “recovered” from my burn-out, but during this whole ordeal I have also been negotiating with my employer about my future. The question was whether I would stay with them, or not. We eventually came to the conclusion that it’s best if we part ways, because there’s not really a way for me to fit in with the company’s needs, but more importantly, my own needs. That means that this will be my last month at the company.

One of the scary things about decisions like this is that you have to find a new job, of course. During these times that can be extremely hard, with a lot of companies still in troubled waters because of the Corona crisis. At the same time it’s a great opportunity to start something new and seek a job that fits me better and offers me a challenge. Last week on Monday I started writing down a list of things I should do to prepare. I wanted to update my LinkedIn profile, write a little story there about how I conquered my burn-out and that I’m looking for a new job opportunity. I had also composed a list of possible future employers and was about ready to start doing some research, to see if these companies were hiring when I got a phone call from my current boss.

He told me to contact one of my former colleagues, because they were looking to hire someone in my field of expertise (which is data management, besides writing, by the way). I immediately called him and we had a great talk, but I couldn’t really make any promises towards him about my availability and when this would be exactly. So, I told him I’d get back to him on Thursday, after signing the agreement with my work. I did and the next day I was there for a job interview! And guess what? They are hiring me! ^_^

I really couldn’t be more happy about how all of this panned out. There’ve been a lot of moments where I was a little scared to start job hunting again, but this means that I won’t be unemployed and my transition from my current work to my new job will be seamless. I’ll be working there for 32 hours a week, which is a little bit less than I do now, but that also opens up more opportunities to continue my writing endeavours. There are so many ideas going through my head, begging to be written. My novel is moving along nicely too, at a steady pace, so hopefully I’ll be able to complete it even further in September, because I’ll be having a little holiday then!

And so, it seems that once again one door closes, but yet another one opens. I do realize how extremely blessed I am with how this all turned out. I am starting to think, however, that my modern stoic take on life seems to bear its fruit. That’s why I continue to practice gratefulness, meditate and journal every single day.

Keep an eye on my blog, because I plan on posting a little bit more frequently, now that all of the stress is out of the way!

Happy reading!

~Jeffrey