Accepting What Is With Gratitude For What I Have

Accepting What Is With Gratitude For What I Have

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about taking a risk and applying for a position within my company that I coveted. Yesterday I found out that I did not get the job.  Initially, I felt a bit bereft because my ego was bruised. But I also felt gratitude that I love the job I currently have.

A part of me wondered if I had over estimated my particular talents and wanted to find out how to approach future opportunities and what perceptions I need to manage or talents I need to enhance. In the past I would have sought feedback tentatively because of a fear that I wouldn’t like what I discovered. This time I decided to seek out feedback positive or negative and use the gift of the feedback to focus on personal development and doing the next right thing.

This time I made the decision to face the truth with an open mind and heart so that I will have the opportunity to fine tune my skills and cultivate a reputation of collaboration, inclusion, positivity, and playing well in the sandbox with others to prepare for the next opportunity. While I would like to think I already have those attributes, it never hurts to re-assess and make a concerted effort to foster the skills I need to be all that I can be.

One of the greatest gifts of maturity is the realization that acceptance is not defeat. Instead acceptance is making a decision to live in the moment with a sense of peace and serenity, finding comfort in one’s own skin, knowing that there are lessons to be learned from every experience, that taking a chance is an opportunity for growth, understanding that there are many talented people in the universe and they all deserve a shot at success, and that falling off the horse doesn’t mean one can’t ride a horse. Perhaps it means one isn’t riding the right horse; or maybe sidesaddle isn’t the best idea; or maybe the job wasn’t what I was meant to do.

I sought feedback from the decision makers and appreciated the gifts of information I was offered with positivity, grace, and gratitude. Tomorrow is another day. And everyday I’ve worked for my current employer has been a blessing. Not everybody has the good fortune to work for a company he can respect, be treated fairly and be afforded the independence to do the next right thing. I am so blessed. So I can overcome a tiny bruise to the ego, accept what is and move on.