Author: thestampsinmypassport

A professional serving the travel industry for 25 years. Expertise and knowledge in sales, customer care and knowledge of the world. Sharing my knowledge, travel stories and tales from around the world in an engaging way.

Unwritten – Natasha Beddingfield

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Unwritten
Natasha Bedingfield
I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
Oh, oh, oh
I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way

When the time is right, you will know.

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Life is a journey not a destination – Ralph Waldo Emerson

In my life’s journey to this point my professional path has been in the travel industry for twenty seven years. Throughout that time I can honestly tell you that I wanted to do something different for about the last 15 years. One could say that it wasn’t the time for me to do something different and they would have been right.

Even three years ago when I went to work for the tour operator, it wasn’t the right time. That company closed and I was back where I started. After months of job searching, openly writing in this blog while I was job searching was a very hard time in my life. Go back and do what I know or keep searching. I did, of course go back to selling travel and becoming the Branch Manager for two years.

During this two year time I was still searching for the right path for my journey to continue. There were some amazing (or what I thought) opportunities that presented themselves along the way. There were hundreds (and I mean HUNDREDS) of resumes and cover letters. There were phone screenings and in the past year several interviews, but no offers. Why wasn’t I getting any offers? The more that happened the more frustrated I was becoming.

These jobs were not meant for you

A few of my close friends told me to take a break. I listened. Three weeks went by and one day in my preview pane was an email from Indeed I was about to delete. But something caught my eye. Something that inevitably changed the course of my journey.

When the time is right, you will know

Everything was different about this experience. I actually knew it was different driving to the interview. I was driving to the interview and Natasha Beddingfield song Unwritten came on the radio. If you are familiar with the song some of the lyrics are:

Drench yourself in words unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten

So here is it is. The next part of my life’s journey will begin on September 25th at We.org as their travel manager. The organization is a movement. A movement for change. A movement to making a difference in the world. A movement for making the world a better place.

Every single person I have shared this with so far has all had the same reaction – this was the job you have been waiting for. One friend said this week, “you know that this is the reason why you didn’t get all the jobs before this one?”

I am closing one chapter in my life which has been a long one. I may write a book about this 27 year part of my journey. But for now, I will look ahead to this new chapter beginning. Just after the Jewish New Year. Seems very fitting. New Year, New Job. New path on my journey of life.

I hope you will continue to follow my journey as I am sure I will have a lot more to share with you.

Live your best life,

Lisa

 

#BellLetsTalk – Jan 25, 2017

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If you are a fan of Grey’s Anatomy you are familiar with the lead character Meredith Grey. I know this is a TV show but the people writing for her are real. Her situations, albeit extreme for most, are real. She has battled mental illness her whole life.

She refers to her closest friends when she is worried about going into her dark and twisty place. I am sure even if you have never watched one hour of the show you can understand about the feelings of being in a dark and twisty place. I know I have.

In the past month or so, more than one person in my life has either called, emailed or texted apologizing for not being around. Not calling. All of them have said the same thing, I am just in my own space right now. Not really in the mood to talk to other people. Not in the mood for socializing. I get it. I am there as well.

I told all of them that I get it. I have been there as well. In December I like to blame it on the end of the year. Mental health issues are high all the time, but the holidays and the end of year is an increased time for many. For some, getting out and being very social is the answer for them. For others it is the opposite. There are only so many times you can answer the same questions or even want to answer the questions.

With the darkness does come the light. It sounds trite but you have to keep saying that to get you through. I woke up the other morning around 7 and it was already getting light. That is a win for me, it means that the days are getting longer and that light is coming.

The concept of #BellLetsTalk day is a special one. It isn’t just one day. We need to be aware of the people around us and those who may be in their own dark and twisty place, as well as our own dark and twisty place. We all go there. Some more than others and some for longer than others. We can’t just snap out of it. It is not that easy. There are medical reasons why we can’t, external reasons why we can’t or maybe we just aren’t ready.

I encourage you to send a message, call, text, whatever your mode of communication to at least one person today that you haven’t spoken to in a while. I just called to say hello and that I am thinking about you. One call to one person. If we all did that, imagine how many people we can reach today.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for coming on my journey with me. I appreciate it.

Live your best life,

Lisa