As a retiree, I am most intentional about volunteering, where meaningful contribution is more rewarding than financial compensation. So I highlight my volunteer work on an expanded résumé (posted elsewhere on this website). The next “paying” job I take, perhaps a fun seasonal one with REI, must flex around my key volunteer gigs. Thus I will embrace my chaplaincy internship at Gunderson Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse (October-March). I will continue my unpaid parish associate role at Dale Heights (since January). Likewise I will see what follows “Serve Madison” (October 22), for which I am connecting High Point Church volunteers with various community agencies and opportunities.
To apply this basic R #1, ask yourself: Are things working out the way they are supposed to? Or do you keep doing things the same way, expecting different results each time? That’s a recipe for insanity. Rather than cling to the past, repeating old ways that don’t work, tryto reinvent yourself and embrace a successful “new you.” This may mean going (back) to school or volunteering for an internship.
At one point, after so many rejections, I would have given up, but then realized barriers that block the way forward are meant to redirect our path, perhaps around or up and over; then the stumbling block becomes a stepping stone to something else. So step out, learn from your rejections, and heed what’s blocking the way—and what’s pointing the way forward. That's how I ended up doing two new chaplaincy gigs this Fall.
The takeaway is obvious: With every door that closes look for another one that opens. Consider how those stumbling blocks in your life can be turned into stepping stones to get you where God wants you to go. “No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; soon they are up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their face” (Proverbs 24:16, The Message).
Then a mentor, who knew of my extensive trip planning and ability to reflect on my experiences, challenged me to jump start my career search with the same passion and planning that went into to my recreational pursuits. So after reflecting on these three great week-long getaways this summer, a new work rhythm has finally come back to me. With this new post (which functions like a good self-talk), and based on these three R’s, I have recaptured three valuable life lessons. I now must act on them, much as any student returning to school. And so I am returning as an intern, and it feels good!
What about you? What about your life or work are you waiting to re-launch? What roadblocks are you facing? Could it be time to reinvent yourself, based on your past experiences and current prospects? How so?