…Choose Peace

I planned to post earlier this month, on December 6th…and I could feel something very strong holding me back. I could feel there was something more to be understood. Voila! I found that “something more” just yesterday. Here goes.

I had never been fired from any position in my life.

My first babysitting job was at 9 years old. In middle school I was booked solid with babysitting jobs most weekends. I remember being at one job early Saturday morning and my mother calling me to tell me she said “yes” to an afternoon job, before my evening job…I was in high demand.

I had never been removed from a position. But now I have. I got fired.

It was early Friday morning, before 8 am – my boss’s boss asked if I had five minutes…

I now have experienced what it feels like to be told I am being let go. Replaced. Fired.

In that same five minutes I learned the new guy was coming in Monday and they wanted me to transition my knowledge to him, over the next few weeks.

Shock. Disbelief. Stunned. Blindsided. Betrayed.

There are so many sub stories surrounding this experience – but none of that truly matters.

What mattered was how I dealt with the information.

Both In the moment, and the days following.

I was honest. I was real. I was committed to making sense of nonsense. For me.

I reset my transition to 3 days.

I gracefully cancelled the holiday team lunch I had planned to host.

I showed up the next 3 days and used my feet and hands for good.

I used my voice.

My voice of decency, responsibility, ownership and respect.

I did not own those areas that were not mine to own.

I used my voice to reinforce the lines of responsibility and accountability.

I documented everything as thoroughly as I could.

I gracefully shared all I had learned over the short 7 weeks I had been on board.

And then, I made a cake for my last group meeting with the teams.

I left knowing I had done everything possible in those 7 weeks.

There was nothing more I could have done.

There was nothing more I could have done.

Yes, this bears repeating…I left knowing there was nothing more I could have done.

This is when we can have peace – in any situation.

When there is nothing more we could have done.

When we give something our ALL. That’s ALL we can do.

Then we can smile. Feel good about what we did. And move on.

I didn’t know what was holding me back from writing about this – until last night.

And now I know.

At the exact time I was leaving this position for the last day…

Someone from my past was committing himself to a new life and someone new.

On the very anniversary we shared, many moons ago.

Thankfully, like the job – I did everything I could for that relationship.

There was nothing more I could have done.

The experience many moons ago was very familiar to being fired.

Shock. Disbelief. Stunned. Blindsided. Betrayed.

And like the job, there was nothing more I could have done in that relationship.

In anything, when we have done all we can do – we can move forward, in peace.

We can be at peace with ourselves.

No job, no relationship, no situation can steal our peace – when…

We have done all we can do.

Choose peace.

And “No Thanks” to anything less.