A World of Possibilities

I am a Job Seeker in Transition. 

I was at a professional networking workshop recently where there were 12-14 of us in attendance.  The workshop was very interactive and it included a lecture and discussion format.

It was during a discussion when one of the attendees disclosed that he had had a stroke.  The disclosure made perfect sense for what was being discussed.

I thought to myself that that was quite a startling admission to make, because we all didn’t know each other in the room. 

I thought this is an open person.  I am an open person, and I like to get to know people who are open.

Through a few conversations, I’ve gotten to know this person just a little bit.  I suppose you can say we’re new friends.   

Picture this.  You go to the doctor and the doctor says that you have some condition or other.  You rush home to find out all you can about the condition that the doctor says you have.  It’s the same thing when I learned that my new friend had a stroke.  I was curious to learn more about strokes and so I turned to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario web site for more information.  You can find information about strokes here. 

I’ve reproduced the following graphic from the Heart and Stroke Foundation web site, because it’s something that all of us should know.  There is a lot of helpful information on this web site that I encourage you to look at. 

A stroke can be very serious, life-and-death really. 

Knowing that my new friend had a stroke, it made me stop and think about a couple of things.   

We should take care of our own health for our own sake and for the sake of others whom we love.  I read an excellent article by Paolo Gallo called “What really matters?  Cura Personalis.”  It’s about the things we can do to take care of our health.  I recommend it. 

Friends and family are important, wouldn’t you say?  I try to spend as much time as possible with friends and family.  You could say that I have the luxury of spending time with friends and family as I am in transition.  But for all my working friends, set aside quality time with the people whom you care about, because, really, life is short.

We all need to do something that we find meaningful.  So, if you are like me, you are looking for work that is meaningful and for me that means being of service to people and the company that I’m working for in a Human Resources capacity. 

I’m lucky to have met my new friend.

I’ve always been an optimistic person, but my new friend is so very optimistic, that he has taken the power of optimism to a whole new level.

He reminds me of an important lesson that with optimism a world of possibilities opens up to us if we are open to seeing those possibilities.

The opposite of optimism or a feeling of hopelessness or despair closes the door on seeing new possibilities.    

I choose to take the lead from my new friend and to view my journey with a sense of hope and optimism.

And for that, I thank my new friend. 

Originally Published on LinkedIn:  March 25, 2016

Image Credit:  Pixabay