Disappointment Will Never Be Fun

     It's a little ironic after my last post, with how confident and excited I was, that I didn't even get a second round interview. Murphy's Law, right? The more you want something, the less likely you are to actually get it. I can't lie, I cried when I saw the word "unfortunately" in the email. Everything in my life seems to be in place, so being able to give back in such a huge way would have been a blessing. It also doesn't help that the email looked eerily similar to the rejection email I got ten months ago. It's a tough pill to swallow: "Thanks, but no thanks" x2.
     As hard as it is, I refuse to let this set me back for long--although there will be a mourning/junk food period for at least a day or two. My mother called me a little before I received the email to tell me that the daughter of an old neighbor passed away this morning. She was a freshman in college. She suffered a brain hemorrhage last night, was air lifted to the hospital, had emergency surgery, and passed away this morning. As I sit here crying about not getting asked back to an interview, I can't help but think of this family who has suffered a much greater loss than I did. She had no pre-existing conditions, yet when God says it's time, it's time.
     The Lord will provide. He knocks us down again and again to rid us of our personal desires and wants and allow us to hear his word. I'm not saying it's easy. The mascara streaks on my cheeks from my tears are proof that disappointment and being told "no" stinks. It's not fun, ever. The Lord has a plan though and I pray like crazy that there is some exciting and happy emails coming my way soon, but, until then, I have to be ok with what He give me. Nothing more, nothing less.

His Guiding Hand

     I am going to warn you up front, this post might be a little longer than any other I have written. Why? Well I felt the Lord touch my life in a big way today and it just keeps snowballing into bigger and better things. I am amazed; I love it; I have to share!
     First thing's first. I turned in my application to become a Visitors Center (VC) Tour Leader yesterday! Woo-hoo!!! I am so freakin' pumped! Just the opportunity to go back into the VC and talk to the amazing people that work there gets me excited! I'm so blessed!  Anyways, the application included a one page essay with the topic, "What's your story?" My first thought: You have got to be kidding me. I love writing--hello, I have a blog!--but I have never been good at writing without any specific directions. Last week, I was telling my dad about how frustrated I was that I couldn't think of a good "story," and mid-sentence a thought popped into my mind. What if I wrote about my Tour Leader application experience from January? Finally a stroke of genius (well, for me at least)!
     You see, I have applied for this position once before. I made it to second round interview and I felt so at home at the VC that I was sure I would get it. God had different plans for me. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to show how much I had grown as a person since then so, I wrote how not getting the position allowed me to become fully engrossed in my leadership certificate classes and leadership positions. At first, it was hard at to revisit the feeling of rejection but, in the end, I fell really good about my application essay.
     So then today happens. I get out of class and head for the restroom. The door seemed heavier than normal and so I pushed a little harder... A girl in line for a stall had been leaning against it. I smiled and apologized making some comment about how small the bathroom was or something. As I pulled my other book bag strap onto my shoulder, the girl who had been leaning on the door asked me if I went here (aka this awesome university I get to call home). Her mother was next to her and I asked them a ton of questions about where they were from, how they were liking campus, etc. They in turn asked me a lot of questions about my major, life in college, different organizations and so on. It turns out that another mother-daughter duo was in the bathroom too and the five of us chatted for a few minutes. The one girl was interested in PR (my major!) and the other was interested in the pre-vet program. They were juniors in high school and so excited about the process that lay ahead of them. I desperately wished that I could hop on their tour bus and show them around campus (class really gets in the way sometimes).
     It hit me as I walked out of the bathroom that throughout our entire conversation, I had felt God's hand on my shoulder. He had walked me into that bathroom at the exact moment that I needed to and ran (literally) into this mother-daughter pair. I had the biggest, silliest, teeth-baring grin on my face for a solid 15+ minutes after that. I couldn't help it. Speaking to those two girls made me so happy and excited for their future. It was amazing. Hands down, it was an awe-inspiring moment of realization. I knew that my passion to become a Tour Leader is still burning bright inside of me and I am beyond ready for the rest of the application process to begin.
     Now the other part of this story... As I sat down to write this post and I got to thinking about if I had written a post when I received the rejection email in January. So I looked; I had! Rereading that blog post, I was amazed at my positivity throughout it. It was a gratifying feeling to see and know that I am happy and really living out a life that I can be proud of. It's pretty cool to see how far I have come in my own development as a person, leader, and follower of Christ. He has everything laid out for my future and I am so excited to see all that He has planned! What a day!

Keep Your Rolodex Well Tended

     I had the privilege of introducing Mr. Earl Leonard to my leadership class a few days ago. Upon receiving his biography, I knew that we were in for a special treat. Mr. Leonard is a UGA grad, has founded and held leadership positions in many organizations, and worked at Coca-Cola for 35 years, 16 of which he headed the Corporate Affairs Division. Not too shabby, huh? The coolest part of his bio was that he is the original benefactor for the leadership certificate program that I am a part of. He gave us do's and don'ts of life and leadership. I took a whole page of notes, but here are the most important things that I took away from his time with my class. I had to share, because the list below is full of great reminders and insights for life. Enjoy!

• God is in the details of all you do, so focus on the details first.
• Nothing is worth doing if it's not done with integrity.
• Never miss an opportunity to tell people how important they are.
• People will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
• Listen more. You can never learn is you're doing all the talking.
• Life is a one act play. There are no encores. 
• Never center your life around a job. Who will you be when that job is gone?
• Don't be a workaholic. Have fun in life.
• It's nice to be important, but it's far more important to be nice.
• Ask yourself, "Am I happy? Or am I just pretending like I am?"
• Make a list of the things you want to do in life and remember to actually do them.
• Ask yourself, "What is my responsibility to the less fortunate?"
• Remember that it's not what you take from life... It's what you give.
• Know a little about a lot of things (language, religion, etc.)
• Consciously create a different, special, and better persona. Be interesting! 
• Ingredients of success: ability, having people who want you to succeed, and luck.
• Your boss already knows your abilities/successes. It's the other people you should get to know.
• Add 2-3 contacts to your rolodex every day. Keep in touch and really care about every contact you've made. Send them cards, call them, etc. 
• Never underestimate someone.
• Dedication and determination are important to succeed, but you have to have some fun too.
• Things that should endure have a way of enduring.