‘Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.’ (Psalm 37:4 The Bible)
This has been one of the hardest years I’ve ever had and yet, as the year draws to a close, I realise that God has indeed given me the ‘desires of my heart’.
It always amazes me that no matter what hard things come, good things often follow. We grow stronger, we increase our empathy towards others, we deepen friendships, or increase in faith.
Out of hard things, amazing things can come.
In January of this year, we lost a 12 month battle to save our Aunt from the ‘Elder Abuse’ she was suffering at the hands of the other side of her family. We had fought so hard for her rights and her independence, but lost in the end.
We were devastated.
Six months later, she was dead. The stress of it was all too much for her. It had shortened her life by years. So not only did we lose the fight for her rights but now we also lost the beautiful and special Aunt that we loved so much. She was our only family in Melbourne and we loved her dearly.
Then April of this year, I had the hardest day of work I have had in 30 years in the workforce, followed by being bullied out of a job I loved.
I went to my boss’s office for what I thought was just our regular monthly meeting, but instead, without any warning, my boss stood over me and started yelling at me, telling me that she was very angry with me. I started crying, very shocked at the sudden outburst from her.
Through tears, I tried to get her to calm down and talk rationally about whatever the issues were. She wouldn’t have a bar of it.
She was out of control.
In 30 years of working – I had never experienced anything like it.
Over the next two months, I tried everything I could to rebuild our relationship, to no avail. I loved my job. It was one of the most challenging, yet rewarding jobs I’d ever had.
For the first two years we worked together, my boss and I had a very positive relationship.
I don’t know what went wrong, but it soon became obvious that our working relationship could not be rescued.
Every day, I came to work, shaking like a leaf, terrified of running in to her; terrified of the terrible anger she was capable of. In the end, I had to leave the job I loved.
I suffered post-traumatic stress as a result of the experience and it has taken 4 months to get back my confidence in myself and to move forward with my life.
Yet, I look back now, and I realised that God has indeed given me
‘the desires of my heart’.
When I left that job, I decided to work part-time (3 days per week). I went from a pretty good salary to a fairly small one and went from full-time hours down to just 20 hours per week.
This meant I lost two thirds of my income, but I couldn’t be happier.
A couple of years ago, I read a great book called the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. It was so inspiring. He shows that living the life we desire isn’t just reserved for the rich.
He puts the potential for an amazing life in the reach of the ordinary person – people like me and you.
The concept I loved most in the book, having ‘freedom of time and place’. In other words, being able to live anywhere in the world, for the same (or similar) cost to where you live now. From the new place you choose to live, you can either get a job there or you can try your hand at building an online business that you can do from anywhere.
Now, my part-time job covers my basic bills and the rest of the week is my own. While I have to be very careful with money (lucky I love Op Shopping), the freedom of having 4 free days a week to do whatever I want is wonderful.
I’m free!
I have so much I want to do in those four spare days, it’s hard to know how to fit it all in.
I never would have experienced this freedom and
joy if I hadn’t been bullied out my job.
Although that was a very painful experience, four months later, I have fully recovered from the stress of it and I am creating the life that I choose.
I really recommend reading the 4 Hour Work Week and thinking creatively about how your life could be different.
Think back to the dreams of your youth. Think about the things that make you really happy.
It could be singing. Can you join a local choir? Is it writing? Could you start your own blog or start writing that book you’ve always said you would write. Is it cooking? Plan some dinner parties for friends. Is it bike riding? Find some favourite bike trails and ride them often. Is it photography? Can you join a Camera Club?
Think back and remember what makes your heart sing.
What is your heart’s desire?
What first step could you take to begin the journey towards it?
