What Has my Last Job Taught Me About Life?

         As I look back on my last job, I realized that I learned a lot about children, other people, and myself. There is no better way to be in a job for 2 and a half years where you have to given more of yourself then you can handle. If you want to be missionary in life, I suggest working at a shelter of some sort to see if you can do it or see what you have to change about yourself or work on. My last job changed my life more then I can image any other job doing just because of the type of job it was. It is going to be hard to fine another "plain" preschool job and get back in the routine of that like I was before but we'll see what God has in store for me.
        Right now, God is just working on me in a lot of ways and healing the hurts from my last job. People working at those type of jobs might not admit it until later but whether you want to admit it or not you do get hurt in a lot of ways, whether physically or emotionally, whether by co-workers or supervisors, or admin. The job can be tough and can be coming from you in all directions. It is also hard to talk about outside of work because it is world no one really knows about. It is something that we try to keep hidden in today's world but yet it is so sad and we need to change that.
        I will say on here that I have been talking to my counselor about some of the things that went on at work and it has helped me see what I need to change about me but I also saw some things when I was working that but I was in such a routine that I didn't change or felt like I had the time to change. The things I'm talking to my counselor about I knew I had a little bit of a problem with before my past job but I'm pretty sure things got bigger and worse the longer I stayed there without doing anything about it. Just to be on the safe side of things, I could have changed some things but some things I couldn't and some things I tried but I felt like no one was listening. I guess you could say that I learned about three Cs. See if you can figure them out.
         The first thing that I learned was children are really needy and I mean that in a good and cute way. It is such a great reminder to us, adults, how we should be towards Christ. When the children come to us for healing and love, we should go to Christ for that and no one else. We could just get hurt by the people around us but if we go to Christ we are safe in His Arms. They are smarter then you think too. They know how to get what they want but at the same time they know what is right and what is wrong, most of them anyways. They just have to be raised up with doing the same thing over and over again like other people are. We keep on getting on to them because they won't do it right the first or second or even third time but does Christ get on to us when we don't get it right the 1st or 2nd time. No! Children really can't get along without their everyday life. That is where I lean that OT and our senses are so important to us along with our brain.
          The second thing that I learned is "it is all about how you communicate with people". I will say that I have never worked at a place in my life where there was no or very little or clear communication. Now I know I need to work on my communication too but it is a two way street. It is important to say what you are thinking so you don't get mad at the people you are working with. There are ways to say things nicely. It might take me awhile to get to that point but if I care enough and try really hard I could get there. It is communication that make things easier in the long run. If you tell me what to do or how you feel then I know. I know I could ask what is wrong when I see that you are down or do you need help with something. I could get to know people better but I'm not the only one and when you work at a job, there is more then just 3 or 4 people, there is a whole brunch of people trying to get on the same page but are confused.
           I have also learned that non-verbal communication is much more easier to read and do then words coming out of your month. People will go by your non-verbal actions more then your words so that is where our actions better match our words. If they don't, then we need to fix something whether it is taking a few days off or talking to someone about what is bothering you or what is going on. We can stop the words from coming out of our months but we cannot stop the non verbal communication because sometimes it is habit and other times we just totally don't know we are doing it because we are that upset or happy about something.
            I have also learned that conflict is important for friendships, job, and relationships. Conflict might be hard in the moment when it happens but that is why you need to prepare yourself or take time for yourself. When it is a friend or someone close to me, I do either walk away or wait a few days to write them back so I can think and calm down. It is the jobs that get me, though, because I don't have time to think right at that moment. My brain takes longer to process things. I am learning, though, and my last job made me see that I really need to work on in the moment things. I need to talk positivitly to myself so I will be ready for what is ahead of me. You can never be prepared for a disagreement or someone that is hurting but in a way you can think confidently of yourself and over time that should help you stand up nicely for yourself and others. If I have learned anything from conflict over the years, it is that conflict within yourself and even with other people will make you stronger with self and closer to others then before.
          Then I have one last thing that I learned but it doesn't start with a "c" and that is self care. I guess it could be the 4 things I learned if you want to call it just "care". I heard about self care before I took my last job and I felt like I needed on my worst days whether at work or in college but I really didn't pay attention to it until this job. I was taking care of myself before this job. My other jobs were "easy" and I just had me to worry about but my last job I worried about the children and what they did that day and tried to figure out what I could do differently the next day to help them. I felt like I was letting them down when I didn't help them. It was all about them and there was no room for taking care of me and that was wrong. I needed that self care to help those children. I couldn't do it on my own. The job taught me what I feel like when I am out of energy and need that self care. I would write on here and say prayers for the children that I couldn't get out of my mind. I would also start to run or walk here and there or I would go outside and just sit and write or read but things got too busy and I stopped.
            Coming from a mind that as always been sat in the missionary mind set and caring/loving/compassionate mind set too, I never knew or would take anyone's advice on self care but now that I looked back I wish I did. Self care is a real thing and it is a really good thing for each of us. It is funny how I never heard of those words until I moved to AR, in the Wal-Mart world, it is what each of my friends were talking about. They were talking about how they took care of themselves and why and I remember thinking "why and what is that?" Well, now I see when you have a stressful job like a ministry or big company, it is vital that you have some kind of self care for yourself. Something you like to do, that will let you rest and go away from the world at times. Something that relaxes you and give you your energy back to be ready to face another day.
           Strange the things you learn in your late 20s, huh? Things you never thought of or thought you would never need because as a teen or college student you had things under your control. Things were easy back then. All of these things, do you think they are what grown ups mean when they tell you, "to grow up". Sometimes I wonder because those are things you just have to learn how to handle yourself, people can show you how but you have to be willing to do it. These are only a few things I'm looking at right now, I know there is a lot more to come.