Sorry I've been a little late posting. I meant to update my blog at Christmas but alas with all my time off relaxing, it's slipped away from me. However, there is still New Years so I am wishing all my readers all the best for 2013 - which includes health, career and relationships!
Since we are only a couple of days until 2013, now is a perfect time to reflect on the last year.
Mine was mixed - the start was not good, nor the middle, but I feel like I made up for it at the end. I had a major health and career crisis which caught me completely off guard. And it battered my self worth and self esteem pretty badly. I had to get real with myself about my abilities and what I could handle. I learnt the pain of having people doubt me. I had a lot of guilt about my health issues. All the time, energy and sacrifice I had put into my Social Work career looked and felt like it had been for nothing. I had to live with being labelled and as hard as it was I knew that many people were hoping I would just give in and walk away from my career.
It made me understand what our clients go through on a daily basis, journeying through a system that is rigged to have many of them fail - and worst of all, revictimize them. I know I felt like I was being victimized.
But then after all that waiting, jumping through a million hoops that seemed to only hurt me and impede my recovery, new opportunities began to open up and I got a new job. And surprisingly, I found that I loved it. But I sure as hell knew that I paid my dues for it.
I made a decision once I started my new position that I didn't want to be just another employee - I wanted to stand out in my enthusiasm. I wanted to be seen as an obvious asset to my agency. I wanted to make an impression so that if I ever left the agency I would be remembered, and more importantly MISSED. And although it has been less than six months since I started this job a lot of people know my name and are talking about my approach to work. I am no longer afraid to hold in my ideas if I think they will be of benefit to my clients or the agency. I care a lot less about criticism and rejection because I have nothing to lose. I enjoy my job, my clients can see that and it is also reflected in the positive atmosphere that I help to create with my coworkers. I am not perfect - I often joke that I am the geek in my office but I am real and it has taken a long time for me to accept myself both personally and professionally.
So, where did I intend to go with this long story? I wanted to show you how much can change in a year, from negative to positive. Overall, my wish for you dear readers is for you to persevere and recognize your own strength in the coming year. Oftentimes we are so focused on our clients journey's that we tend to neglect our own. We too have amazing stories of survival and triumph in the face of great obstacles or tragedies. Some of us may have had several hard years in challenging Social Work jobs, while others are just graduating and don't know in which direction to begin their Social Work career. Then there are those of us struggling to juggle family lives with our jobs, facing ever increasing responsibilities at work, and a lack of understanding for the very complicated work we do. But I don't want you to give up hope for 2013. I want you to take all that you have dealt with, learnt and overcome in 2012 to become a stronger, more resilient version of yourself. Aim to be a role model to your clients and your coworkers in 2013. And more importantly, aim to be a model of courage to yourself.
As Always,
Patti
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