I recently went out to lunch with my husband, and I had a flashback to my life a few months ago when I was in the same strip mall parking lot.
Back in February, I met up for coffee with a friend. Afterwards, I was checking my email before heading home. I saw my daily email from USPS about that day’s mail and noticed that I was going to get something from Job Service, so I went onto their site to see what it was.
Lo and behold, it was a letter telling me my unemployment claim was potentially going to be denied by my previous employer. I immediately started freaking out and panicking. I didn’t know what was happening or why it was happening, but I knew I had to figure it out now.
I called someone from the Job Service office in Bismarck immediately to get more information and see what the next steps would be. After I got off the phone, I completed a form on my phone so I could get the process moving along as quickly as possible.
I did everything I could to take control of the situation that day, but at the time I didn’t even realize that. In my head, I had no option but to get to the bottom of it immediately. I didn’t even consider not taking action, although I could see how other people in that situation might feel that way at first.
I’m really proud of myself for how I reacted that way and how things have played out since then. I stood up for myself and fought for what was right. I took action without knowing if it would work out or if I could actually accomplish anything.
I used to think about that day a lot, but I hadn’t thought about it for a while until that flashback last week. It’s nearly six months later, and my life looks drastically different than it did then.
Now I’m able to fully appreciate my past self and what she did even while freaking out and not knowing what to do. At the time, I saw it as my only option, but it wasn’t. I could’ve decided to do nothing, to just let this happen and wallow in self-pity. But I didn’t. I stepped up. And I am so proud.
Sometimes you don’t realize how monumental something is until much later. That’s how this flashback was for me.
So I’m taking the time to celebrate my past self for her actions and my present self for being mindful of what the last few months have done for me. You never know what’ll happen in your life. We won’t always be able to step up and handle things, so it’s important to call it out and celebrate it when that happens.
Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash
