What a difference a day makes

Bear with me while I tell you a story…

Anthony started his job at the Carvery pub a few weeks ago and halfway through his first shift he called me while on his break and said “It’s really dire, I want to just drive home!”.
The food was awful and Anthony had no authority to change it. Customers were few and far between. The rest of the staff were dull and had no real cooking skills. It was soul-destroying for him to be working there so while keeping the job he was determined to find something better.

Last weekend he had an interview and trial shift for a head chef position at a local pub. It seemed like the perfect job. The interview and trial seemed to go very well and he was very excited at the prospect of being offered the position. He wasn’t successful though and while the pub said they would contact him in the future if the position became vacant again he was very fed up and disappointed.
That Sunday evening here was very solemn. The thought of having to go back to a job he hated on the Wednesday was making Anthony very sad. Seeing him so sad made me sad and there was a lot of sighing and moaning going on. Anthony got straight back on the job centre website and searched for new adverts. He saw one that looked good but couldn’t ring up about it until the morning.

The next morning as the girls were eating their breakfast he was on the phone. He was asked to come for an interview at 4pm that day. After a day of shopping for Robyns birthday presents he went off to the interview while I went to the weekly family service at church with the girls.
At 5pm he called me to say he had just left the interview. He said it seemed to go well and was feeling quite confident but at the back of our minds we knew that we had thought that about the last interview.

He arrived home and said that he would know about the job by Wednesday morning at the latest. We started the kids tea and tried to forget about the potentially exciting job that was on the horizon. Working in a staff canteen at a huge banking headquarters serving people ranging from office assistants up to Managing Directors. The hours: Monday to Friday; 6.30am til 3pm. No bank holidays, no weekends (EVER!), no evenings (EVER!) and a secure job with a very well-known company.

By 6pm the phone rang. Anthony had been successful and been offered the job!

He started on Wednesday morning and is loving the job. He never had to go back to the awful pub and he is working somewhere that values him. His colleagues are happy, friendly and polite and he feels like he has a purpose again. He is happy, therefore I am happy and the children are happy.

On Monday afternoon after we’d bought Robyns birthday presents we went into Wing Yip, the Chinese supermarket. I bought a box of fortune cookies (aswell as a whole load of other stuff!) and opened one when I got into the car. I was a bit taken aback when I read my fortune…

All too often we dwell on good things that end. Sooner or later your troubles end too. It’s true! Good things can go on and on and on if you only let them. Bad things can stop. Right there. It’s all about making that choice and being brave enough to make them stop.
Sometimes you can make your own fortune. Applying for that job might end in disappointment but try again and again and your troubles will end. Choose happiness.

Nothing last forever – not even your troubles!

Best of 2009: Learning Experience

I shall never forget the phone call I received from my friend just after we found out that Anthony had lost his job. She told me that good things happen to good people. She told me that if we think positive thoughts then we will get through it. I repeat that mantra many times a day.

Good things happen to good people. It is true. When you are in despair and it seems that the world has turned its back on you think about the good things. Turn things around and things will be ok. So Anthony doesn’t have a job but we have been able to have so much more family time than would have been possible.

The people who forced Anthony out of his job are not good people. They might have a job but I would bet a lot of money that they are not happy. The business will not succeed. Already they are not open as much as they were when Anthony was there. It is always empty, people in the town don’t have a good word to say about the place. When we own our own business it will succeed. No doubt about it. Good things happen to good people.

My learning experience of 2009 then? Good things happen to good people!

This post is part of  Gwen Bell’s Best of 2009 blog challenge

10 Things

Today it was confirmed that Anthony has lost his job. We have been through every emotion possible from anger through to relief because at least we know where we stand.

My friend Mel called me earlier and I was so grateful. She asked me and Anthony to sit down tonight and write 10 things that we want in the next 12 months. The rules were these: it doesnt matter how silly the things sound, how far-fetched or how impossible they seem. You are not allowed to include any negative thoughts in the list. No ifs, buts, maybe’s. No saying “this is what we’d like but we’d settle for that”.

Here is what we have come up with:

1. We want to have another baby
2. We want Anthony to be working in a good job where he is happy
3. Mel wants to be confident in looking after Katie on her own
4. Mel wants to have lost 4 stone in weight
5. We want to be living in a house with a garden
6. We want to go away somewhere hot and sunny with our family
7. Anthony wants to have lost 2 stone in weight
8. We want a new family car
9. Mel wants to publish a children’s prayer book with her mum
10. We want our own Cafe and Bistro business. We will call it Karma

Suddenly seeing it written down like that doesnt seem so hard to achieve…

Think Positive

Today has been pretty horrible. Anthony’s job is under threat. For regular readers of my blog you will know he was out of work for over 18mths until September. To say this is bad news is an understatement.

A wise friend of mine told me this: “Try to concentrate on what you want rather than what you don’t want!”.

On the same thinking this evening we have talked about the plus sides of being out of work.

• Anthony will be here to help me with Katie when she is being difficult
• We will be able to go out for some nice walks
• We might not have much money at Christmas but have the chance of being together as a family
• I will be able to go to church again on a Sunday as the time as a family won’t be so precious

If Anthony does keep his job he will probably look for alternative employment anyway. It will buy him some time so he wont be out of work. We have thought about offering to take the lease of the premises but that is something that needs very careful consideration. For it to work he would have to start from scratch with new staff.

Today I am thankful for:

• My family who have been so so supportive today. My sister has offered some ad hoc work for Anthony
• My friends who have tried to take my mind off things and offered hugs
• Katie who has been a little star today. When I cried she said “Mummy doin’ cryin’. Love you mummy”
• Robyn who has made me proud by learning all her lines for the school play
• Anthony who is my rock. Together we will face anything that is thrown at us

“…All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well”: Julian of Norwich

A patience update

Well Anthony has been offered a 2 week work trial which basically means we stay on benefits for the time being and work for free!

The employers can then let Anthony prove himself in the job (which is managing a brand new café with the chance of going into business with them in the future) and then decide to offer him the job. It is like a 2 week long job interview!

Again, I have to trust and believe that this is what is right. This is a step in securing our future but it is also securing the café owners future. If they pick the wrong manager it could be disaster for them. Anthony needs to work his socks off and prove that he is the man for the job.

It’s going to be a long 2 weeks!

Patience is a virtue

We are currently waiting on some potentially very exciting job news for Anthony. If he gets offered this job the last 18 months of unemployment will be all worth it. All the failed interviews and applications will have been for a reason. It is a job that doesn’t come along very often. In fact, it’s not just a job. It’s the chance of securing a future!

Each time the phone rings my stomach does a backward flip. It is taking over my head and it is hard to sit still! Patience, however, is a virtue. We need to be patient and we need to believe & trust that things will work out.

It’s just so very hard!