Providence Shifts My World Again

Isn’t life funny? You think you have your course set and God throws you a curveball.

I haven’t written much about work in a while. As a bit of a recap, I lost my job in January of 2019, due to the closure of my office. I was 58. I never was upset – it was time. Plus these things happen in the business world. They were fair to me and I won’t complain. Just an unexpected life disruption, and one that allowed me to enjoy life younger.

I learned a lot of lessons following it happening, including I was seen as “old” at 58 and the job application and interview process has reached the level of ridiculous.

I had mostly worked at home for eight years (yeah, ironic that the reason I was given for losing my job was an office closure but you just have to laugh) and while I was willing to commute for a new job if it made sense, there never seemed to be a good reason when I asked the questions during interviews. It seemed to be mostly a power thing. I’ve got a low tolerance for such things. I’m an adult, for goodness sake.

I finally decided to sell my house and use my equity to fund my expenses until I collect Social Security at 67. I’d earn extra money writing or being an enrollment counselor during open enrollment, but it wasn’t my focus. I moved into an apartment complex owned by my mom, so I see family so much more than before. I like it more than my house.

Life’s been good. I haven’t gotten in as much travel as planned, but that was mostly because I have some higher dollar trips I’m trying to plan on a budget (I’m talking about you, Antarctica!)

But out of the blue, when I was volunteering at balloon camp a few weeks ago, I got a message from a guy on Linked In. He had seen my profile wanted to talk to me about a job. I sent him back one of those messages where you say “Well, sure I’ll be happy to talk to you when I’m back in town, but I don’t want to work full-time, and my priority is travel.” in other words, “Yeah, I can’t imagine this working out.”

He followed up when I returned home and after two phone calls, where we talked more about structure and our likes and dislikes than the typical job interview, he sent an offer letter. We exchanged a couple more emails when I accepted.

So this week I’ll have my first meeting with him in person. We have similar philosophies and like to concentrate on different dimensions of the business. So far it all sounds like a great working relationship. We’re both excited to get going.

Oh, I guess I should say it’s a boutique agency specializing in group benefits for any size groups, but a lot of focus on smaller ones. I’ll be the first W-2 employee.

I love the idea of providence – in my mind it’s the idea that God has a huge plan in the universe, and things work out as they should. That doesn’t mean we stall and put our lives in a holding pattern, but instead we keep living life, walk forward, and the next steps will present themselves. It’s a bit like magic, really. The next thing appears and we know it’s a challenge meant for us.

This also manifests with people and concepts. How many times have you thought about an old friend and out of the blue they call you? Or you hear a word or concept that you never heard before and then all of a sudden all the people are discussing it?

There are no downsides here for me. I already have my backup plan (what I’ve been doing), but helping start a business from scratch? Other than starting my own business (which was fine, but I hated doing the bookkeeping and such and will not do that again), I’ve never been on the ground floor and I love the idea of building it up. Income from a family of contractors – building is in our blood. I just do it differently.

I’ll let you know how it goes, but for now I’m excited. Don’t ever get too comfortable or spend too much time stressing. Providence will show itself in good time.