Working WITH life, not AT it.

“Ok, long story short.

Five or six years ago, I took a look at my life and decided that things just were not working. I was working very hard at making life work, and it wasn't working. I took a good hard look at things, and decided it was time I started working WITH life instead of working so hard to make things happen "someday". My life was passing by, and I wasn't enjoying much of it. I needed to make a big change, so that I could enjoy my life NOW instead of always waiting for things that never happened.

So.. In 1998 I left my husband, got a divorce, then went to school for two years 3/4 time while working full-time plus. Also began hiking and backpacking. Did very well in school, got a degree in Computer Networking, got certs, CCNA and two (EEK!) Microsoft certs. Did some great hiking, a lot in Minnesota (especially the Superior Trail) and a couple of spectacular Grand Canyon hikes. Moved to Arizona summer of 2002, where my mother lives. Job market VERY slim here, so I took a job at Target. Not great pay, but I was living with Mom, and my expenses were few. It wasn't exactly what I'd trained for, but it paid the gear bill and the car insurance. and it was "Fast, Fun and Friendly". I applied for other opportunites, but nothing came through. But I was hiking a lot, I learned to rock climb, and I was enjoying Arizona, being near my Mother, and loving life!

It only got better. In November, 2002, quite by chance, I met the man of my dreams, Wayne. A hiker/climber, and a wonderful man. We are getting married in April. Last summer my two sons (22 and 23) moved out here, too. They were (almost) the only thing I missed about Minnesota. It's great to have them here.

Folks at work knew of my computer knowledge, and one of my co-workers asked me if I was interested in doing a little web work for her husband, Dennis. He works at the local Dodge dealer, and is in charge of the website. So I started doing some website maintenance for him, on contract. Not a lot money every month, but some. After a couple months of this, Dennis asked me if I was interested in doing other work for them. The guy who was doing their network stuff wasn't able to fulfill all of their needs. He was good, but often so busy that he was unavailable when they needed him, and by mutual agreement, they had decided to part ways.

In January I started taking care of their computer/network issues. They have three sites, their main Dodge-Chryser-Jeep place, a Honda dealership, and two RV sales places all on a single network. It was also on contract, about 6 to 10 hours a week. Not any maintenance, just their SOS emergency things. Well, they liked me so much that by mid-February, they asked me to work full-time.

This is my second week there. It's terrific! getting paid for playing. a good bit more than ol' Target was paying me, too!

The network needs work. It's not well-designed (or should I say it's non-designed) and the security is basically non-existent. No backup system at all for their server. No network map. the list goes on. It's going to take me a good long while to get things straightened out. But oh, what fun!

My life has become extremely good. I have my family, a terrific man who loves me and loves to do the things I do, and now I have a great job.

In a week and a half, Wayne and I are taking my two sons for their first Grand Canyon hike. It'll be fantastic (I'll step more carefully this time!) We have plans for more hikes than a person could possibly do in a lifetime!

Life is SO good! I haven't had to work hard at it, just keeping my eyes open, taking some risks, and taking advantage of opportunites that came along. I truly believe it's all because I began working WITH life, not working AT it.”

“That is just great! You have a lot of guts to do what ya did and it worked. I like yer thinking. Work with life, not at it. Mind if I borrow that one?

Good to hear ya having a good time! I hope to hook up with ya again some day!!”

“Cindylu, I am sooo happy for you! Big smiles. You are blessed.”

“borrow away. I don't think I'm the first to say it, anyway.”

“Sounds great, cindy_lu. Quite a testimony. One of the things I like about the IT field is that things are constantly changing. There is always a ton of new stuff to be learning. Personally, I'll be working on CISSP and W2K3 certs soon.”

“Wow. Good for you, Cindy Lu.
That's a fantastic post. Certainly makes me think...”

“i thought you said long story short =D

just kidding. good for you. im jealous. like they bono said "i still havent found what im looking for". glad you have”

“Cindy... Cindy... LOL! I've followed this exodus and revelation from my computerside seat and chit chatting on IM with you. It wasn't always the easiest, but lookeee what happened!! :-)

You've given us great words of advice... errr, not advice, but words to live WITH. :-)”

“Cindy, that is a very inspirational story. I am in the process of my divorce myself. I think your story has given me a lift knowing what I can do with my life. Thanks for sharing.”

“cindy, you got a divorce just because you wanted a life change? Was the marriage in the crapper? Did you try to save it?

I'm hoping I'm getting the wrong impression here....”

“Hi Cindy Lu! I'm so glad to hear things have worked out for you. You deserve every bit of it.

Sure does make one think...”

“You gotta do whatcha gotta do sometimes. I have made similar posts. I wish everyone happiness.

Doug”

“Congratulations! Sometimes the toughest choices really are the best ones, even if they don't seem like it sometimes. I'm glad everything has worked out for you. It's nice to have things coming your way for a change, isn't it?”

“Mutt, of course Cindy Lu tried to work through the very bad stuff going on in her marriage!! Ya know, it's tough to leave a marriage, too. It's certainly not something taken lightly. And she certainly didn't...”

“Thank you Lizs, I was pretty sure my first reaction was wrong.”

“Sure, Cindylu is looking at this from the positive side. But look at Minnesota now. Empty buildings after the post-Cindylu exodus.

Trails in the upper midwest are now falling into disrepair because of lack of use.

Shoot, it doesn't even snow around here anymore.”

“what? mutt admitted he was wrong? crap! thats the seventh sign of the apocalypse =D

"I am in the process of my divorce myself"

STILL?!?! damn, dude, your divorce has lasted longer than some ppls marriages. good luck dropping your ball and chain =D”

“Thanks cindy! We.. err... I can only take from the table no more than I bring. Namaste! Taking away will give me more! Awesome.”

“Glad to hear things are making you happy these days and Best of luck on continued Happiness!”

“Cindy, thanks for sharing such a great story! I am glad that things have worked out for you. BTW I still recall sitting around your alcohol stove instead of a fire at PR and talking about your dreamto move to the SW,thats was nearly 4 years ago. Its cool how things work out sometimes.You took a big risk and got a bigger reward. I am truly happy for you.”

“Very inspirational, and I'm so happy for you. Right now, my work is driving me crazy and I so need the reminder not to keep trying to make things happen.”

“cindy_lu thanks for sharing. I enjoyed your uplifting story.”

“Mutt,
I tried and tried. but sadly, it takes two trying in order for things to work. After 23 years, I could see it wasn't going to get better. No matter how hard I tried or wanted. I woke up one day and realized that I didn't want to try anymore, and that I just didn't want to grow old with the guy, much less take care of him when he got old and infirm, as he was sure to cuz he doesn't take care of himself. He was a bum. didn't work much, and wasn't nice to our kids.”

“LOL, RL.
That's why I love ya. Always finding the silver lining...”

“RL - you're a riot! lol”

“Cindy Lu, thanks.

That is certainly food for thought.”

“Hmmmmm, almost lunch time.

What part of Arizona, cindy?”

“prescott”

“good for you cindy, maybe you will inspire me. iv'e been thinking of changing jobs, not sure of what i want to do. currently an optican, may go into medical billing. i'll stick with the hubby.”

“I was in Prescaott once. It was on my way down to Yuma. I was headed to San Diego. I was coming down from the north to get on 10.

It was in the middle of the night , I;ll never forget it. All of a sudden we noticed the night sky. That was the most stars I have ever seen in my life. For sure, it was just amazing.

I would like to go back there some day and lie down in the middle of that road in the middle of the night with nothing but stars above me.”

“Amazing, ain't it, sirpete...

You should see that starry night sky from the bottom of the Grand Canyon...

I LOVE ARIZONA!!”

“awesome, cindy_lu! Yours is a nice story with happy endings. :o)

(and I agree with your philosophy completely...carpe diem!)”