Tomorrow is My Big Day

So much has been going on in my life lately and I haven't had a chance to catch up.  The biggest news is that I have a new job!  I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to be wanted again.

Starting March 20th, I will be the Fundraising Coordinator for the Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. While searching for a new job, I wasn't sure I would end up in fundraising work again. The way I see it, fundraising for a cause you don't believe in is really sales, not fundraising. Maybe you think it's more important to find a job, any job, than to be picky about who you work for. I don't think it's worth wasting your life on a job you can't stand. Sure, I've had jobs that I eventually hated, but there were parts of the job I enjoyed and it took time to stop liking the job completely. 

Family photo just before Mom's diagnosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a cause I can support with every fiber of my being.  My mom was diagnosed with MS after giving birth to my youngest brother. For over 25 years, she gradually lost nerve connections and lost feeling in her legs, went blind in one eye, periodically lost her sight altogether, lost her ability to walk, and eventually lost her life.  MS doesn't kill...it cripples. The mom who taught me how to do The Twist and used to do marathon shopping for Christmas eventually was unable to work and had to have constant help once she ended up in a wheelchair. A simple procedure led to a horrible staph infection and that resulted in needing her heart valve to be replaced. As she recovered from all of that, the MS kicked into high gear and her body started shutting down. I barely found out in time to see her before she passed away.

Even now I have wonderful friends who have been diagnosed with MS and see how they struggle to make good use of their minds while their bodies are falling apart. So much great research is happening and improvements continue to be made. My new job gives me a chance to give hope to so many people like my mom.

The toughest thing today was seeing a post on my former employer's blog about the new Development Director. It brought back the sting of having my job eliminated in order to make room for that job. It was also hard to deal with that outcome after seeing the photo. Surely I present myself more professionally than that guy (or maybe I should have started wearing bow ties). Of course I've managed to torture myself by finding out more and seeing that he had fewer years of experience (but he's in the middle of getting his master's degree). I see now why it's really bad to look backwards - IT HURTS!  Time to face forward and embrace my new adventure.