New Year’s Eve – a 2008 retrospective and a look ahead to 2009

As 2008 comes to a close, what better time is there to look back on the past 12 months and look ahead to the next 12?

2008
For me, personally, 2008 was a year of extreme highs and lows. The year started out with a continuing job hunt, but my family was healthy, and together, so it wasn’t all bad.

In February, not too deep into the new year, I finally found a job – one that I thought could be that perfect job everybody is looking for, usually through their whole life. I began my position as director of communications for a non-profit that protects the rights of hunters. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, I realized that this was not the perfect position I’d dreamed it to be. In fact, I realized I was in the completely wrong position. Don’t get me wrong – I actually loved the things that I was doing, but the message I was putting out wasn’t one I believed in. After some days of sending out press releases and taking calls from media and the public, I would drive home with a sick feeling inside because I just didn’t agree with what I was doing. At that point, I realized what I had to do. I could not be the mouthpiece for an organization I wasn’t behind. I left that job at the end of May.

While leaving a job like I did may seem like one of the downs, I can say that it also provided at least a couple of the ups. I met a great group of people that I continue to consider friends and learned a lot about how non-profits work.

After leaving this position, I scheduled a trip back to Dallas in June to recharge and reconnect with my good friends. I came home refreshed and ready to get on that job search horse once again. I had a few interviews here and there, but nothing that seemed to fit. I figured it was just a matter of time before I found something that worked for both me and the company that was looking to fill a position.

Then, in July, came another disappointment. My mother had been cancer-free for nearly a year after having gone through surgery and a long cycle of chemotherapy. She had been going in for scans and check ups every three months after that to make sure the cancer had not come back. After her July scan, she was told that everything looked good. The next morning, however, she received a call from the doctor stating that something came back strange in the blood work and they needed to do more tests. She did another scan and the found that the cancer had returned. She has been doing chemotherapy since that time and will be having another surgery sometime in the early part of the new year.

It was somewhat of a blessing that I was off work during this, as it is hard for her to do the things she would normally do because of the effects of the chemo.

In October, after several more interviews at various places, it seemed that I had found the position that I had been looking for. I interviewed for a public relations writer position with a software company and was called back for a second interview. Everything about the job sounded great and I thought it was going to be a perfect fit for both myself and the company. At the second interview I was told by the hiring manager that at that point she had planned to offer me the job, however, she received a resume just the night before my second interview from a woman with 20 years experience of writing for the software industry and she felt like she had to at least interview that person. It ended up that the experience won out and I did not get the position. I have stayed in contact with that hiring manager and she continues to help me using her network of public relations professionals in the Columbus area.

One other disappointing development for 2008 is the return of my grandmother’s cancer. She too had been deemed cancer-free, only to see the return of her pancreatic cancer in early December of this year. She is likely to begin chemotherapy again soon, depending on some forthcoming test results. As bad as this seems, I still often think of how blessed I am. I am the only 32-year-old person I know that still has all four of his grandparents still living, and living unassisted at that.

2008 was also a year of reconnections for me. Thanks to Facebook, I’ve managed to get back in touch with so many people that I thought I’d never hear from again. It is so nice to get caught up with so many people that I’d lost track of over the years.

So, as 2008 ends, I remain unemployed. If I had known the worst economy in my lifetime was about to begin, would I have changed my decision to leave the position with the non-profit? It’s hard to say. Part of me says yes – I would have wanted to keep that stability, but part of me knows that I’m just not the kind of person that can stay someplace when it doesn’t fit with my beliefs.

Yes, 2008 had its share of ups and downs, and a lot of people might say mostly downs, but I try to see the positive side of all that has happened. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes, in weaker moments, I questioned the existence of God, or wondered why He was doing this to my family. Each time, however, I end up coming back to Him and praying to Him.

2009
As I enter 2009, it is indeed a year of uncertainty. With economic times as bad as they are, one must wonder how this job search is going to move forward. It is important to me that I once again become part of society and I will find a place where I can not only support myself, but also in some way help others.

The health of my family is in question. Surgery and chemotherapy are givens, but even with that, results are unclear. I do know that my family and I will make the best of whatever hand we are dealt.

With that, I ask each of you to love those in your life, and don’t take anything for granted. I wish you all nothing but the best for 2009.