Opportunity

Two posts ago I post a long diatribe complaining about my job. That's nothing new.

Today I got a dose of reality and got over my whiny-ness when something struck me. I thought about the overtime I would be getting and I realized, first off, just how much money I'll be making in the next month if I work the kind of hours my boss wants us to work.

So, I broke out the calculator and did some figuring. I took my salary and worked out the hourly rate for time and a half. I then multiplied that by strictly the amount of overtime I'll get in a month (about 100 hours). Then I figured out what was left after taxes and I sat and gaped at the number for a good 5 minutes.

The number is, almost to the penny, the amount of debt leftover from my divorce that I haven't paid yet.

Unbelievable. I was awestruck. The reason I was so surprised is because I've been thinking about going back to college this year to get a MAT in Teaching. And I kept running the scenario in my head as to how I'm going to do that and live when I have all these debts that need to be paid. I remember thinking to myself about a month ago, and I'm paraphrasing here:

If I'm supposed to do this, then the opportunity to do so will come. If I step out on a little faith, do what I can, everything else will fall into place and I'll make it work.

Today, I see the seeds of faith becoming substance, and I find myself amazed.

It helped me to realize that to be truly happy, we need to release control of the outcomes. Our job is to step forward and do what we truly believe we need to be doing, and then the rest will take care of itself. If you can't see a way, that doesn't mean a way won't be made if you get up and go do something about it. You can't sit around listlessly thinking of excuses of why you can't do something. Just do it (if you believe in it so badly) and leave the rest to faith.

The interesting part is, the overtime is just part of the opportunity. As if that's not enough, I asked my ex-wife last night if I was going to be able to claim one of the kids on my taxes (after having a HUGE fight with her about it a month ago), and she looked at me and said:

"I've already filed my taxes. I claimed one, you can claim the other one."

That means, that I'll probably get a refund this year. And, if the deduction is still $1000 per child, it's going to be just enough of a refund to pay off the rest of the taxes I owe from last year, plust $100.

The moral of my story, as it has always seemed to be, is that when what seems like bad things hit us, can actually be propelling us toward good things. Two days ago I saw this burst of work as a curse. Today I see it as a blessing. A source of freedom. Another leg in the hurdle I am trying to cross to get to where I want to be.

Sometimes opportunity knocks...and sometimes it knocks you down. When you get back up, be thankful.