I firmly believe in the saying “everything happens for a reason” or “what’s mean to be, will be.” I think that this can be applied to so many things in life. If you think back at moments in your life where something has happened that hasn’t gone quite your way, this might eventually have led to something that has been good for you. Or you may have been somewhere that  caused you to meet someone who might have impacted on your life. Or possibly you had a job that wasn’t quite what you wanted but it may have meant you made some lovely friends there. I know sometimes that dreadful things happen and can have devastating effects on you or your life and I am not trying to belittle that at all. It’s just sometimes somewhere there may be a slight glimmer of a good thing that can follow on from the events of a bad thing. An example of everything happens for an reason I’d like to talk to you about today is some really really exciting changes that are happening in my life, right now! If you read my post about working in a school you will know that I have made a decision, after 19 years in the same job:

Sometimes though it gets to the point when you know you have been in the same place for a very long time and, in your heart, you know you need to seek a new challenge.  For your own personal growth you know you need to start looking around and exploring new opportunities.  That, my friend, is what I decided to do…

So this is where I can start to talk about things happening for a reason!  I have just been keeping an eye out over the last year or so for something different job-wise.  I saw a couple of jobs that  I thought might be what I’d like to do and sent off my CV.  One I heard back from and after a lengthy friendly chat over the phone we mutually decided it wasn’t going to be the job I thought it was. Time went on and I decided to Dry January, as you know and I started my blog (there is a reason for telling you this.) I am really passionate about my blog; I love writing posts, trying to unearth my creative side that I know must be in there somewhere, deep inside. I also really enjoy interacting with the other lovely bloggers I have had the fortune to come across.So imagine my excitement when I saw a job advertised recently where some of the tasks mentioned were:  blogging 😀 updating social media 😀 and interacting with customers via social media, phone and email 😀  Wow! Wow and Wow!! Oh and also the advert said there would be an opportunity to develop marketing skills for a person keen to learn more in this area.  Yes please! Obviously there were other tasks involved, including lots of maths, which I have a real aptitude for (if you don’t like maths you’ll think I’m mad – but if you do like maths you’ll get me completely!)  In addition the company is a really well regarded, family run business and not too far from home.  So spotting that job advert put me in a complete state of euphoria! So picture me! My CV was obviously pretty outdated, I had adjusted it slightly for the other couple of jobs I’d looked at, but this time it needed to be perfect.  This job sounded amazing and I really really wanted to be in with a chance.  I then started wondering if I should apply because, after all, I haven’t worked in an office for over 20 years! But I know when I did work in an office I was efficient and I know I am quick at learning new things, plus I have acquired loads of different skills through my current job.  Thoughts then drifted  into my mind that lots of other people who currently work in offices might apply and they will have much more recent experience than me.   That lack of confidence battled in my mind with the desire and thoughts that this job sounded amazing.So I set to work on updating my CV.  I decided to mention my blog (after consulting some of my trusted friends on Twitter – thank you 🙂) and I whittled my CV down from two pages to one.   This was my decision as I’d read previously that some employers prefer a brief CV but obviously I know all companies are different.  I wrote a letter of application, from the heart, saying how much I would love to be considered for the job and sent the letter and CV off via email – not knowing whether I would hear anything back but hoping against hope that I would.Imagine my delight when a week or so afterwards I received a telephone call inviting me along for an informal interview! I felt amazed and shocked yet nervously happy, it’s hard to really explain.  Then the nerves really kicked in.  I actually had an interview!So to cut a long story short, I had an interview with two of the managers and they were soooo lovely.  It was my first interview in nineteen years so you can’t blame a girl for being a little nervous! We chatted, I learnt about the job and they learnt about me and it felt great! And they were really impressed that I had my own blog!! Receiving a phone call inviting me to go back in rendered me completely speechless.  That is absolutely no exaggeration, I literally couldn’t talk, I was so in shock and so over the moon!I met several other members of staff and everyone seems so lovely! Being formally offered the job felt like a dream come true!  It feels unbelievable. It’s incredible, like I’m going to start a new chapter in my life.  It almost feels unreal.  “Have I really had an interview and actually been chosen for the job I was so keen to get?”So doing dry January and starting my blog, engaging with others on social media and learning more about all it entails, guided me to that advertisement and gave me the confidence to apply for a job that I am really really looking forward to starting 😀Can you understand why I can’t believe it? It is such a brilliant opportunity, it just feels amazing, fantastic, exhilarating, awesome, incredible, gosh I could go on…it’s going to be challenging and it’s taking me out of my comfort zone, but I will be in a new place, hopefully make new friends and will get to learn a whole load of new things! What could be better?

Sometimes though it gets to the point when you know you have been in the same place for a very long time and, in your heart, you know you need to seek a new challenge.  For your own personal growth you know you need to start looking around and exploring new opportunities.  That, my friend, is what I have managed to do and I can’t wait to start my new job and work with such truly lovely people!