It was around this time two years ago that I had made a bold decision in leaving a stable job. I had been there for seven and a half years, I was making great pay, I had decent benefits, and people there had high respect for me. I had started that job when I was 19, and I had started at the bottom. I worked as a cancel clerk making $9.50 an hour, which was great pay for me back then. I found myself quickly progressing and within 8 months I was promoted with a dollar raise. It seemed like it was promotion after promotion. I was making myself known with management, throwing out my business ideas like I was one of them, even being told that I had a bright future with the company if I kept up the good work. And I did. The last position I held was an operations analyst, and I didn't even have a degree yet. However, with my extensive knowledge of office applications, SQL, and my drive to learn I was given the opportunity to hold that position. So why did I leave? A number of factors really. I was going through a dark time in my life. I had lost my husband at the time and we had been together for almost 9 years. That itself sent me into a spiraling depression. I started to loose interest in my work. I dropped out of school even though I was so close to graduating. I started drinking heavily, going out to bars a lot, and most of all not taking care of my diabetes. My boss at the time was a great manager, as well as a great friend. And he tried the best he could to help me out. He knew what I was going through as I had confided in him my personal life. But he couldn't help me if I wasn't motivated to do the job. In my mind I knew it came down to him either having to fire me, or me quitting. So I quit because I thought if I was fired I would become a failure.
That turned out to be a not so good idea. When I quit, I figured I had enough in savings to last me a little while until I found another job. I had actually found a sales job about a month later selling credit card processors to small businesses. But that didn't last long. The training was horrible as were the leads. Sales that I thought I had earned $3,000 in only ended up being $75 because there were "issues" with the paperwork or the customer had backed out of the sale. And that was in one month. I knew I couldn't survive on $75 a month. So I tried another sales job working as a reseller for AT&T Uverse. That seemed promising at first. I made a couple hundred dollars my first week and my sales manager had faith that I would do well. But after a couple months I had to quit because I was spending more money in gas than I was making (it was door to door all over the metroplex).
By this time I decided to either go back into retail or back to a desk job. I put in application after application with the same answer, "You're over qualified". My internal reaction....so?!! I need a f*&%ing job! Of course, with no job came no benefits and no medical insurance. I had to rely on friends and family to help pay for my insulin and diabetic supplies, and that only lasts for so long. I had finally run out of money 6 months after I left my first job with no hope in sight of finding anything promising.
My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, stuck by me through it all. Which amazed me because we had met right at the end of me selling Uverse. He knew I didn't have any money, I had lost my car, I was living with my mom, and I had nothing to offer him except for myself. And it seemed that to him, that was enough.
With a stroke of luck and knowing the right people, I was finally able to land a good job as a customer care rep at a call center. The pay wasn't as much as I was used to making, but that didn't matter. Anything was better than nothing at this point. After a few months working there, I started looking for other job opportunities. Mostly because I didn't agree with how the business was ran, but also because the medical insurance was sub par. It was still expensive for me to go to the doctor and I had to meet a deductible on my prescriptions before they would allow me to only pay the co-pay.
So after a couple months of job searching, I was able to land the job I have now (which I have previously praised about in a couple of my blogs). I truly am grateful to have this job, and not because of the money (I am back to making what I was as an analyst). But because I am surrounded by wonderful people who I love to work with and I have great medical coverage so I can finally get back to taking care of myself.
Last week I had my first doctor's appointment in over a year. And this doctor is amazing. He has a great personality and knows my medical needs. He prescribed me the insulin I needed and is committed to helping me get back on track. Within a week, I have seen an absolute improvement on my bloodsugars. Now, I am keeping track of everything to make sure that I can stay on track. With the support of my friends, family, and even co-workers I know that from here on out I won't be in the same mess I was in a couple years ago
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