My posts have been few as of late, however, I am ready to get back to writing!  I have been on a whirlwind!  The past 8 months have been amazing, remarkable, incredible, astounding!  I am so happy, and feel super blessed!  So, what happened?  What is going on?  I graduated in December, my husband received a job promotion that brought us to Washington DC. I was able to transfer. Two months later a counseling job opened, I applied and in April started work as a counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

It is interesting how change can scare you, elate you, stun you, overwhelm and excite you while throwing you into a new reality you could not have imagined in your most creative dream.   It has been quite a change, and all have been good.  Of course we miss our friends and family, but we are enjoying this new adventure.

There are times when clients may come to us in conflict due to a life change and we have an incredible responsibility and honor of guiding them to a place of courage and resiliency during that time.  I recall a time with a client who was in our outpatient group for recovery.  He was unsure if his employer would let him return to work, so he was looking for new jobs as a back up plan.  During his recovery while not working, he was able to reconnect with his wife and children, reach out to friends and family in a way he had not been able to previously, and he began to understand and know himself in a much deeper and meaningful way.  He was offered a lucrative position – his dream job, with one exception.  It required frequent travel.  So, my client was faced with an incredible decision.  Do I take the dream job, and perhaps chance my recovery and create distance from the family I am newly reconnecting to?  Or do I take a different path?  In the end he said no, and was offered an even better position with that company, without travel.  My supervisor told him something that always stuck with me.  “Why settle for good, when you can have GREAT?”  In the end he elected to continue with his current job, his supervisors were very supportive and welcomed him back to work.  He shared something with us that was instrumental in showing his recovery process.  He noted that for him, it was enough knowing that he could have the dream job. Turning it down to pursue what was most important to him, his family and recovery made him feel like he had not settled for good, that he had elected great.

If you have examples of how certain decisions in life have catapulted you to new levels, please share!