I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I know that we are getting into the last few weeks of summer depending on what area you live in the world. Some might be getting ready for school to start others might be finishing the quarter or year. No matter where you are life can change. I recall last year about this time I was pondering the move to Eastern Washington. I was still nervous after being let go from the spa and unsure of what was going to be happening next in my life. These days I am realizing a lot of patterns in my life. Moving hoping for a new change, sometimes that change works other times it doesn’t.
When I started this post I was still waiting on a job offer to become official. Within a few weeks of moving I already started the steps of getting established in my new area. I have to say even with my anxiety I was getting things done without doubting myself as much. Which is a big improvement in my life. It reminded me of something that I have been told in my life. When you do small things others will come along. I think it all started with changing my address from the old one to the new one. The goes from letting the financial people know that you moved to the post office so you can get your mail. No problem right? Well I had to also try to remember which site does the voter’s information. It took a few days, yet once it was finished I felt a huge relief and personal adulting points to myself. Once that was done it got a little bit easier. I was lucky that I still had money to pay for bus fare. One advice I would give someone is look up about what each transit company or group does when you are traveling. It took me one trip to find out that my particular area doesn’t do paper transfer. I felt really awkward getting this news. Luckily I was ready to take care of the rest of the way. It was then that I made up my mind to research the fare system and get a new card so I wouldn’t had a repeat of that weird moment. That was the start of figuring out everything and anything I needed to know to be self confident in this new chapter of my life.
The next thing I did was find the Ridestore where I could replace my card and find out more changes with fares and how to get around town. Gradually I started making a list of things I needed to learn like where was the local mall, what stores were close by, and which routes when where. Luckily most of my answers were a click away on my phone or laptop. Another thing I found out was that I needed to gradually get more unpacked from my boxes. I than found a place that sold hangers and a great price. It soon became my go to places for groceries and everything in between. It was nice to be in an area where there was such a variety of stores. I soon found out where the mall was and got a chance to explore and window shop. Pretty soon I felt pretty confident because I had learned where I could go and what to do once I got there.
By this time it was a few weeks after I had moved in. By this time I had started going to the local Ethiopian church with my roommate. Up until this moment I hadn’t gone to church in a few months. When I was working I found that on Sundays I was either tired or decided to try a new hobby crocheting. There was a class where I could learn step by step how to crochet. My friend was studying to be a teacher and asked if I minded being her practice student. I thought about it and said sure because I needed something to help me relax after working during the week at the tax office. During the week I worked on my lessons in between my doctor appointments and work schedule and on Sundays I was showing my progress. I would post pictures on Instagram that went to my Facebook profile. I had people compliment me of my progress. One of the main reasons that I did i was because I needed something to help my hand and eye coordination and my motor skills. Reader I have to say it was difficult, yet very good once my hands started memorizing the steps. It also distracted me from my back pain that was tiring me. I realized that I could crochet a few rows and feel content to either stop or continue. In my mind I wanted to do something in case my job search bothered me because I wasn’t finding anything. It also helped me focus on helping someone else other than myself.
Now that I have moved I realized that something was still missing in my life. I was content because I had saved money from working in the Winter.
Here we are a few weeks later. I got the official word and have finished my training to be a cashier. I have been attending to church when my schedule allows me and when it doesn’t I go between a Bible Study on YourVersion and their Verse of the Day. When I can I go to event’s that the church has. I even went to a picnic which was actually really fun. It is giving me a chance to see my Ethiopian culture from an Ethiopian American’s perspective and actually people accept that.
Now it has been a few months since I started this post. I have been trained and retrained at my job part time cashier position. It has been very enlightening. Looking back at the cashier positions I have had in the past (including the receptionist at H&R Block) this is something very different. There is a lot to remember which can be challenging. I also noticed that my anxiety was getting in the way of many of being able to live and do my job well. As I was waiting to hear back for this job I went ahead and established a new medical team. I looked to my insurance to guide me through this important task. I was lucky that on the second try they found a nurse practitioner that was close by that I could make an appointment with. It took a few days to make the call and schedule the appointment. It was a very good choice and she is helping me figure out which medicines can help me not just with my anxiety and depression that spawned off from the stress I had been under. One other things she suggested was that I should start going to therapy again so I could talk through all the things I had gone through.
It has been a few weeks since I got back on the medicine. I have already noticed a difference in how I look at the world and it’s challenges. One things I noticed was while I was training that my anxiety definitely got in the way of my learning how to do my job. To be honest I was scared of failing and the lessons got blocked by these thoughts. As much as I wanted to have a office job that would have me sitting. Trying to find a job in that area became difficult because they wanted someone who would work full time. So I when I got the word that this cashier position was going to the next step in the interviewing process I decided to do whatever it took to make it work. I needed to get my foot in the door and being a cashier seemed to be the way to in.
Whenever I see myself in a career or job position just helping people is the phrase that I keep in the front of my mind. Everyone has their own love language and mine is serving. I treat others the way I want to be treated. That is with love, kindness, and respect. This is one of the reasons that I made my Facebook Page. I felt there needs a place where you can read something wholesome, light, and positive. Honestly I almost quit being on Facebook. I was not able to share my tweets or blog posts. I also felt like I lost focus in my life. I was seeing more negative things on my front page that it made me feel worse about myself. So I adjusted things and decided not to shy away from social media.
In a couple weeks it will be two months since I began this post. What are somethings that you will be seeing here (as I get time to write) are photos from my trip to Ethiopia many sunsets and places I saw while I was there. How I am healing from my difficult life choices, and many more adventures into my creative mind. I wish you all a great weekend and hope to see more of you on my Facebook page and Twitter.
