The New Normal?

Is there a new normal in my life?

One of the last things I did last Friday before I left work was check my LinkedIn account - sure enough, a position I had interviewed for in Old Home has been filled. I am back to being in a position of not having any active interviews occurring.

Add to this the commissioning of teachers for my children's school at church yesterday - including the two of the three for positions I had interviewed for (I was very kindly told that without a teaching credential, I was not a good candidate).

As I sat there Sunday afternoon with my family gone and I alone, I considered the various things of my life that I had pursued in my past: teaching, pastoring, The Firm, performing, entertaining and writing. In each and every case, the thing had not worked out - and now, looking at it, I was forced to admit that those opportunities were truly gone - there are some doors you go through that, once passed through, cannot ever be exited.

But that was the past. Given the current economic climate and current state of my industry, the chances are greater than average that our stay here in New Home is going to be much longer than I anticipated.

So then I started to make a list - if I am stuck here and there are things that I am still interested in, can I do those and integrate them in my current life?

Suddenly my mind was surging ahead to possibilities. Yes, there is still a long road to hoe to make those things happen - but suddenly those things became possible, rather than opportunities that had passed and callings that may never come again.

Perhaps I have been waiting too long for the Old Normal to return, when in fact it is never returning - and never would have.

Welcome to the New Normal.