Work. Well of course there is no such thing as free lunch, is there?

I am now being “reimbursed” (as of March 1st) for the work I have been doing, along with several “new” job responsibilities. But they will be annual or semi annual reviews (such as handling the vehicle and house insurance, for 40 homes) rather than potentially increasing my daily workload.

People are certainly interesting aren’t they?
I had a few people speaking to Jim on my behalf, and Jim on his own, was having daily revelations, that he would often comment on. (this being the two directors that had put their own spin on things where I was concerned, had now left and all kinds of misuse of power on their part was being revealed).

But it took me calling him from home on February 26th, and telling him that I was not prepared to wait another six months for all of us to put my new job description together,to see an increase. I said, if I am this good, and you agree that my salary should be complimentary to the managers, then you need to make it happen now. I am looking for something else, and I am prepared to take the first position that comes along, even if it means a temporary contract, something that is closer to my home. He does appreciate my straightforward approach. But I do think he really needed to know that I wasn’t fooling.

I think he just needed some “divine” intervention.

Within hours of that conversation, an email was sent out to the HR department, and the other directors involved that my increase was to take effect March 1st.

I sent him an email to thank him, and his response? “I am just glad we can keep you here. Your cost saving measures over the past year have more than covered your promotion.”

I still do have the extra 2 hour drive per day with the commute. But I am now receiving the salary that is in line with the residential managers, who are “on” all the time and must be available practically seven days a week. Need to take the on-call pager every six weeks, and have many staff in the homes who cause unbelievable problems (they do for me as well, when it comes to the repairs, etc. of the homes).
But I am still working from home on Fridays and can pretty much set my own schedule based on the needs of the job.

My goal is still to find something closer to home. But now I can breathe. And spring is coming. I drive to work now in daylight, and return home in daylight.
Last Monday morning I was ready to leave. I turned to look out my kitchen window, saw a couple of deer coming down the road. I went to my livingroom window, and looked out to find them join a herd of 15 deer, surrounding my car! They just sort of stood around for a few minutes, and then began to make their way down the road. Now had my cat Sprout, not managed to lock herself in the bathroom, causing me to go back, I would have likely already been outside, and the deer would not have come to my car.
Last night I saw a shooting star from my livingroom window. These are things I enjoy because I chose to live north of the cities. I am so grateful, and they keep my long drive to work on a lighter note.

And all you asked was “how is work coming along?”

We are storytellers, all of us…

Incidentally, my maiden name was Solomon!

How is work coming along?

A few of my thoughts came from attending several workshops I had the blessing to be a part of with a man named Paul Solomon. Paul’s work has lived on and some cd’s and books are available on the website. He passed sometime ago.
I absolutely loved this man. There has never been anyone before or since that I harmonize so strongly with.
One of his favourite statements was when he was talking about letting go of those things that no longer serve or support us.

It occured to me, Chuck after I read your comment about “letting go of their drama also helps them in some magical way,” that many times that is what happens.

I haven’t heard the phrase “that is not like you” for a few years. When I would attempt to do something differently, (particularly where my mother was concerned) I would hear that phrase from her, and it would cause an immediate reaction. She was now needing to interact differently as well. And I noticed, there would be a shift in the energy, for me.

As life would have it, I hadn’t completely worked through all of my issues with my mother, and subsequently attracted a husband who mirrored many of the issues I had with her. When I decided I needed to change, he would say “that isn’t like you.” (hmm a voice from the past)
The interesting thing is, when we do something differently, others can’t help but question who they are now, because they recognize the difference.

And we have now provided them an opportunity to change as well, or stay where they are.

That is where the magic is.

I find the message that all negativity fades to be an immensely reassuring one. We are often in the habit of attacking what we see as negative. It is our (warped?) idea of justice that may hold us in place and may even whisper in our ear that some deserve to be permanently damned. God has a system and it is quite spectacular. Goodness is retained The pain of it all, what we don’t like, is all erased, it falls away, you might even call it “forgiven” if you like

I also love what Lynda says about karma. The message seems to be that karma does exist, but not in the way many of us imagine. We do keep re-living our negative experiences until we let go of what holds them to us and finally move on. We can see this happening in our lives over and over. This is part of the wisdom and safety and purpose of the process we are living in. This “karma” is a wonderful thing that helps us to ensure our growth.

I love the way Lynda puts the situation of loved ones who serve to hold us in a negative place. When this is the case, we do need to let them be, accept them and love them, but not buy into their negativity and make it part of our lives also. It seems that us letting go of their drama also helps them in some almost magical way. Many of the Heaven Sutras appear to me to have this as their theme.

These lessons seem to amount to learning that our discomfort is always all about us. God is like a loving parent who wants us to do well and helps in any way that does not violate our free will and freedom. The whole system is set up by Him to assist in His purpose in creating it all. It is all quite lovely and magical, isn’t it?

And I know that we can spend years (yes, many years) asking why we would have such sister, or a mother, or whoever the person is that brought us such important lessons.

But at the end of it all, God is so right. There really is nothing more to do but learn and grow and move on from it.

Because we really do keep re-living the experiences, regardless of our age, if we keep them in the present moment.

And I have also learned, that if we have people (family members, in particular)in our lives who will either act out those experiences (although in different ways) or keep us in a place where we have difficulty letting go, then we need to let them be and have whatever relationship we need to, in order to have a life of peace and love.

I found I had to do this (for myself) particularly with my sister. And many do not understand. But that is my choice. She and I are not close, and I see many characteristics in her that my mother had. I am trying not to judge, only make healthier decisions now, as an adult, that I couldn’t as a child.

Earth really is a school, isn’t it Gloria?

Like a very large classroom, with the best chalkboard in the whole world. We can write our experiences on the board, and then learn from them, (like correcting the mistakes in spelling or math)and take that great big, eraser and wipe the board clean!

I used to love when my teachers would do that. And now that I think about it, I would often volunteer to clean the black board for them. Hmmm…