It All Comes Back Around

Hope just emerged in my life where I was defeated.

Remember a few weeks back I had an interview for another position within the university? Well, I quickly assumed I wasn’t a candidate in the running because I never heard back for a second interview. Turns out I was a candidate who was strongly considered, although I still wasn’t offered the position. I know this because the person in charge called me yesterday to explain they offered the position only a few days ago to someone else after a long, contemplative couple of weeks. She continued to express how impressed she was with me and that she would be happy to assist me in finding another position within the university that would better utilize me and my skills set.

Wow, how about that?

In today’s job market, where employers have one of the largest pools of candidates to choose from, you rarely hear of personal follow-up calls to interviewees to let them know they didn’t get the job, let alone a call offering to help the person find another position. I was unbelievably surprised and grateful. What a gift!

This is a perfect example of feeling defeated only to not being defeated at all, hence the title of my blog entry on January 12 when I processed my disappointment, “The Joy in Losing.” What I discovered from writing the blog was that it was the “competitive” part of me who felt disappointed in not being chosen, or in “losing,” not the real me. This interview was actually the first time in my life when I interviewed fully as me. What I mean by that is I didn’t curb my answers to the panel’s questions to give them what they wanted to hear. If you’ve ever interviewed for a job, you know what I mean by that. Not that I gave outrageous answers or anything, it’s just that I remained centered in who I am and answered accordingly. I never wavered, even when I felt tempted to say what should be said, regardless of what I believed, in effort to WIN.

That good ‘ole phrase, “I guess it wasn’t mean to be,” proved to be true. It wasn’t mean to be that, but it’s meant to be something else.

Even though I walked away that afternoon feeling good, internally, about how I presented myself, it’s hard to express in words how good it also feels to receive the external validation. It wasn’t needed, but it sure feels good.

On January 12, when I wrote my blog entry, I honestly believed I had found the joy in losing. It’s my quest each and every day to find the joy and I had done so on that day. Today, I find it so beautifully ironic how the joy that day has come full circle and continues to give me hope for a better tomorrow.

Quote of the day: “Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear.” —Monroe Forester