Life Lessons

If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

That was a quote that Steve Jobs used in a speech. I know I have used this quote already, but it is one that I have written down and read a couple times a week. I consider myself to be head of the Continuous  Development department of my life. That means I am always searching out a better job, better home, better car, pretty much anything that I thought would give me a better life. None of this is done to be selfish or materialistic, just more so a drive inside me to see if I can do it. The down side this is I take chances.  I have taken two chances in the past few months   One has failed  and the other is flourishing. I always like to end on a happy note, so I will start with the life lesson learned. 

In August I left a perfectly stable, comfortable job at a company that I had worked with for three years.  I had found myself in a very comfortable income level, but not a very self fulfilling job. After a conversation I had with a friend of mine, my name was thrown out to his company. When I met up with them I was blown away with the sales pitch. They promised me everything and never blinked an eye when I threw out my salary, vacation or benefits demands. That should have been my first sign to back out. Nothing that good is true. So here I am in November. I have had a total of two weekends off and am averaging 60 hours a week in a position  for a company pretty much seems to be spiraling out of control. Tough life lesson learned on this go round. 

Now on to Rachel. I have met a beautiful, charming and sarcastic woman that has turned my world upside down. This friends, is a good thing. She has  been everything I have needed in my life. She keeps me sane when my job is crashing around me. As I have gotten older, I am able to  appreciate the qualities Ina relationship that are meaningful. My family has told me I the past that I was too picky. Well, it's paid off. Hell, I even took her home to  meet them. It wasn't just my parents, Rachel met the entire gang. I threw her to the wolves for three hours and she came out unscathed. My Mom now asks more about her life than mine. She won my family over just as easy as she won me over. I also have had the opportunity to meet her family. They were every bit as open and inviting to me as my family is to her. That's a good thing. Plus her dad is a retired cop... got to keep that dude happy!

Later this month we will move into a house that we got in Tuscumbia. This is a huge leap of faith on her part and an exciting new chapter in our lives. I can honestly say that I didn't settle. Rachel is a beautiful, brilliant young woman with a bright future... even with me tagging along. Maybe I won't screw it up!