Sign of the Times
Logically it doesn't seem like the best decision, but I did ask God and this is the message I got. 'Enter' and 'Good things end so even better things can begin.' I've requested a change and recently I talked about beating the status quo with a stick. I am/was tired of the same-old-same-old. Now days later I have an opportunity. It's not an ideal opportunity but for everything it isn't, it's there. It's what I want. Sort of and sort of not. This is why I have a battle on my hands.
I don't think it's the best thing for me right now. Mostly financially. I've set my goals and I know what I need to do to reach them. I did not include an eighty mile a day commute on my list. If I accept this opportunity, I stand to burn everything I planned to save in gas. With gas hovering in the $3.30s, I might even lose money on the deal. Move closer? Had this come up a month ago, that would have been readily possible. However, I just signed a year lease on an apartment in South Austin with a roommate that most definitely does not want to move forty miles out of the city. I'm stuck where I am for the next year and if I accept this opportunity, I'd end up commuting for the duration.
Then there are the dogs to consider. Apartment living is going to be a whole new thing for them. They'll have to potty on a leash and won't have a yard to play in. If I take a job requiring a forty-five minute commute each way, they'll be cooped up in the apartment for nearly eleven hours a day. Currently, I work close enough to come home at lunch to let them out which I plan to do most days. On the days I can't make it home on my lunch break, I'll only be gone a little over nine hours. That's a big difference. I'm not sure I can rationalize leaving them longer. I'm struggling enough with the fairness of moving them to an apartment, let alone adding a commute to my day.
I'm also not sure I want to add an hour and a half commute to my day. I already procrastinate enough workouts every week. I can't imagine losing forty-five minutes on each side of my day. It certainly wouldn't help my fitness. I guess I could join the Anytime Fitness that's just down the road from the new job and workout on my lunch break. But really, how often would I do that? If I'm skeptical already, I don't hold out much hope that I'd actually do it regularly.
Ok, so if all these negatives go along with this opportunity, why am I torn? Because it's what I've said I want for quite some time. I'm not sure if leaving human resources yet again is my best decision (especially since I hope to one day be the first HR Director at a Pacific Northwest start-up), but I'm so tired of the status quo and I fear my HR position will be eliminated (again) eventually. This time I'd like to be ahead of the game.
The opportunity is in a small town, which is one of my stipulations for staying in Austin beyond the next year. In my two and a half years in Austin, I've learned that I'm a smaller city person. Austin in the seventh largest city in the U.S. My goal is to reside somewhere considerably smaller. I've long said I'd settle for a 'suburb' of Austin. I call Bastrop, Marble Falls, and the Bee Caves area suburbs. I'd be willing transfer to any of those stores and be perfectly happy living a little ways outside the Austin City Limits. My opportunity is at one of those stores, just not my favorite one. I'd honestly prefer to head west to the 'lake country' than east to burned out forest.
My plan was to stay put one more year then make a decision. Stay or go. In other words, if I could find a position in one of the outlying stores, I'd take the opportunity and commit to staying in the greater Austin area another few years minimum. If something out of state came up, I'd take that. They key to making either of those opportunities happen was saving money. Certainly nothing is set in stone at this point. I could accept the new opportunity and still move in a year - either to cut down my commute (and my rent costs) or to a destination currently unknown. Of course, as I stated a few paragraphs ago, I'm not sure I want to risk having my gas expense to cut into my savings plan.
I hate to go against God's better judgement. I woke this morning to signs. Signs. I assume God is talking about this situation. It's the only thing truly weighing on my right now. He seems to be saying 'Go for it'. Or is He trying to tell me to take this as a spring board and look for other opportunities that might be even better. Hell if I know. I'm going to need some advice and clarity. And maybe another sign. I think God hates it when I ask for more signs. I can just see Him sighing and rolling his eyes right before He says 'Here you go, dumb ass' and hits me upside the head with something Captain Obvious could have scripted. One of these days I'll learn to listen and stop analyzing. Unfortunately, today is not that day.
I don't think it's the best thing for me right now. Mostly financially. I've set my goals and I know what I need to do to reach them. I did not include an eighty mile a day commute on my list. If I accept this opportunity, I stand to burn everything I planned to save in gas. With gas hovering in the $3.30s, I might even lose money on the deal. Move closer? Had this come up a month ago, that would have been readily possible. However, I just signed a year lease on an apartment in South Austin with a roommate that most definitely does not want to move forty miles out of the city. I'm stuck where I am for the next year and if I accept this opportunity, I'd end up commuting for the duration.
Then there are the dogs to consider. Apartment living is going to be a whole new thing for them. They'll have to potty on a leash and won't have a yard to play in. If I take a job requiring a forty-five minute commute each way, they'll be cooped up in the apartment for nearly eleven hours a day. Currently, I work close enough to come home at lunch to let them out which I plan to do most days. On the days I can't make it home on my lunch break, I'll only be gone a little over nine hours. That's a big difference. I'm not sure I can rationalize leaving them longer. I'm struggling enough with the fairness of moving them to an apartment, let alone adding a commute to my day.
I'm also not sure I want to add an hour and a half commute to my day. I already procrastinate enough workouts every week. I can't imagine losing forty-five minutes on each side of my day. It certainly wouldn't help my fitness. I guess I could join the Anytime Fitness that's just down the road from the new job and workout on my lunch break. But really, how often would I do that? If I'm skeptical already, I don't hold out much hope that I'd actually do it regularly.
Ok, so if all these negatives go along with this opportunity, why am I torn? Because it's what I've said I want for quite some time. I'm not sure if leaving human resources yet again is my best decision (especially since I hope to one day be the first HR Director at a Pacific Northwest start-up), but I'm so tired of the status quo and I fear my HR position will be eliminated (again) eventually. This time I'd like to be ahead of the game.
The opportunity is in a small town, which is one of my stipulations for staying in Austin beyond the next year. In my two and a half years in Austin, I've learned that I'm a smaller city person. Austin in the seventh largest city in the U.S. My goal is to reside somewhere considerably smaller. I've long said I'd settle for a 'suburb' of Austin. I call Bastrop, Marble Falls, and the Bee Caves area suburbs. I'd be willing transfer to any of those stores and be perfectly happy living a little ways outside the Austin City Limits. My opportunity is at one of those stores, just not my favorite one. I'd honestly prefer to head west to the 'lake country' than east to burned out forest.
My plan was to stay put one more year then make a decision. Stay or go. In other words, if I could find a position in one of the outlying stores, I'd take the opportunity and commit to staying in the greater Austin area another few years minimum. If something out of state came up, I'd take that. They key to making either of those opportunities happen was saving money. Certainly nothing is set in stone at this point. I could accept the new opportunity and still move in a year - either to cut down my commute (and my rent costs) or to a destination currently unknown. Of course, as I stated a few paragraphs ago, I'm not sure I want to risk having my gas expense to cut into my savings plan.
I hate to go against God's better judgement. I woke this morning to signs. Signs. I assume God is talking about this situation. It's the only thing truly weighing on my right now. He seems to be saying 'Go for it'. Or is He trying to tell me to take this as a spring board and look for other opportunities that might be even better. Hell if I know. I'm going to need some advice and clarity. And maybe another sign. I think God hates it when I ask for more signs. I can just see Him sighing and rolling his eyes right before He says 'Here you go, dumb ass' and hits me upside the head with something Captain Obvious could have scripted. One of these days I'll learn to listen and stop analyzing. Unfortunately, today is not that day.
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