I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning to sail my ship.

~Louisa May Alcott

This blessed life I live continues to evolve daily, guided by necessity mostly, as most decisions we make are.  Thus, I join the millions of women who add full-time employment to their daily round.  Now, I will receive some monetary compensation for my efforts and begin to build my professional portfolio.

I refuse to think of myself as selling out, settling, giving up, compromising, etc.  Rather, I accept this as an opportunity to understand another dimension of life.  When a working mother says she’s tired, you have to have experienced her level of exhaustion to understand.  Similarly, it’s helpful to be a stay-at-home mom to know what it’s like to work that full-time job without monetary compensation for at least a decade.

Also, I can’t help but feeling that there is a reason for all this, besides earning money to pay off debt.  Patience is an ongoing lesson for me.  As I wait, though, I continue learn.  Every day I hear another story, discover something new.  Another perspective is revealed, maybe even a Truth.  So many opportunities are before me now that might not have been there before.  Each day presents another chance to experience life, if I choose to be open to it and grow with and from it.

Experience.  Is it not what life is all about?  I also choose for my experience to be grounded in compassion, and I think that will make all the difference.

I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly.  Tunafish casserole is at least as real as trading corporate stock. ~Barbara Harrison