In an attempt to change my perspective on things and start being so negative, I've been trying to remind myself to think more positive things when writing my blogs. I don't think I've been very successful. Even when I am able to come up with positive thought, they seem to lead to negative ones. This time I'm going to attempt to block out the negative and accentuate the positive. Let me know if it working.
I was put on a DO NOT HIRE list when I was released from teaching last year. I luckily found out about this list that is distributed amongst Chicago Public Schools citywide through hearsay, such has been my career since moving to Chicago. I've never received an unsatisfactory rating and couldn't figure out why my name was on this list. So, I decided to fight it. I called union reps out here and I've been working with them to have my name removed. However I'm questioning whether or not I should get a lawyer and sue. My name being put on this list to me is defamation of character. It says that I was unable to do my job. I relate it to being put on a list published for parents stating that you're a pedophile. Maybe an honest mistake, but a damaging one. Although I don't want to teach anymore, I feel that this has damaged my reputation as a teacher.
I mention this to lead into my excitement for the program I have been accepted into. When speaking with the union member, I was told that I should apply for jobs for which I'm certified anyway. I didn't want to tell him that I no longer wanted to teach because I wanted him to address getting my name off of the list as though I did. So of course I didn't tell him that I got accepted into a program for career changers. Since the program has started, I have been enjoying meeting new people that are pursing similar careers. It reminds me of the teaching program that I joined, but to me that experience was once in a lifetime. I really enjoy meeting and learning about new people.
Today, I got a call from a credit card company about an overdue payment. I had set up bill pay with my bank to pay off the balance of the card. When I initially signed up for the card the promotion was no interest for 12 months. So, I must have miscalculated the number of automatic payments that needed to be made. You can never been to careful when it comes to credit cards and debt. Anyway that you can be screwed, you will be screwed. Since my final payment was late, I was charged the interest for the entire year. Originally, I was very upset. I was ready to hang up on the woman I spoke with and I was very rude & obnoxious. After about 10 minutes, I realized that this woman wasn't at fault for my error. Although I feel like the penalty didn't fit the crime, she wasn't the judge and I was killing the messenger. Now I see why people hate those types of jobs. I calmed down and apologized. It didn't make me feel any better, but somehow I feel like it was the right thing to do. On a positive note, the speeding ticket that I need to pay off was less than that year of interest and hopefully I will have a job soon so I can pay off state income taxes. Go Bulls.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
even though you sprinkled in some positive things, the overall tone still sounds negative. I like that you took responsibility for not paying off the credit card on time. It is a lot easier to be positive when we take responsibility for our own actions (which we can control)rather than trying to change other people's actions(which we can't control) or passively allowing things to happen to us.
ReplyDeleteHow does that prayer go? Give me the strength to fight the things I can change, the serenity to deal with the things I can't change and the wisdom to know the difference.
(I have finally got back to my google reader)
ReplyDeleteThat line about the interest made me shutter when I read it.
Positive redirection is a good thing. Life is 10% percent what happens to you and 90% reaction. OYu can chose how you are going to allow things to effect you. I would write a letter to the credit card company asking for Grace in this situation since you paid all other payments on time you never know what might happen. Yomi is right it does sound negative because what happen is negative. However you reaction is positive.
Okay, the overall tone probably seems negative because I tend to write my blogs as a form of expression when things are bothering me. In this case, as I was writing I thought about all the crummy stuff going on in my life as a way to elevate the positive. I figured that in order to appreciate the positive, you have to know/experience the negative. By the way, I love the serenity prayer. I have it posted to my desktop inside of a picture of a joker. I try to read it daily, it helps put things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteTo Joel, once a credit company has your money, there's no getting it back. Its almost like going to court and saying you're guilty and then changing your mind. I was just foolish enough to believe that my future business was more important to Dell than capitalizing off of my once in a lifetime mistake. As Rafiki would say, "WRONG AGAIN!" There was a valuable lesson to be learned here for me. I'm still working on being actively patient. In the past when I got screwed over, I'd ignore it or pretend it never happened. That would get me deeper in a hole. In this case, I reacted too quickly. In the future, I will attempt to respond to the situation, but address it more patiently taking the L as a last resort as opposed to a quick solution.