Decisions, decisions

Happy October everyone!  As you know from my "Fall" post, this is one of my favorite months and the weather here in Sarasota has been cooperating (2 days with the air conditioner off and the windows open, then had to turn the air back on).  Hopefully the cooler weather will make an appearance sooner rather than later. :)

Recently I've had to make some decisions regarding work.  For those of you who don't know, I am a licensed mental health counselor (long title, but best way to describe what I do) and for the past year I have worked for Ceridian under the Military OneSource (MOS) contract.  What is that?  Well MOS is the employee assistance program for the military and my job is to help service members and family members get set up with counseling.  I work in a call center, so I do the counseling and assessments over the phone, which has been a new experience for me because I am use to working with children and providing face to face counseling.  Well, back in August, I learned that the Department of Defense (who gave Ceridian the MOS contract) decided to give the MOS contract to a different vendor, which means, as of October 30th, I will no longer have a job under this contract.  Scary, yes, but not as scary as when I lost my job last year.  At least this time, I had some time to try and figure out what I was going to do.  Well here I am in October and I am still not absolutely sure what I want to do.  I have 2 different job offers that I am trying to decide between.  One is continuing working for Ceridian under a different contract.  It is a supervisory position and offers me the opportunity to do something different and a significant pay increase, that is, if the company gets the contract.  The other job is working for another agency located in Clearwater working with mentally ill adults.  This job give me the opportunity to work with adults, which I haven't done, and is an actual position that is ready for me to take.  The downside is the salary is the same as I am making now and I will be traveling farther to get to work.  What to do, what to do...

On top of that, I would really like to go back to school to get my PhD. and I would like to move towards starting my own practice.  So, as you can see, there is a lot going on.  As I sit here writing, the thought "If I was granted a job wish, what would it be?' entered into my head.  If I did not have to worry about collecting a regular paycheck and did not need health insurance, I would focus on starting my own practice and put my energy into that.  But, alas, I have not recently won the lottery nor have I met an incredibly rich man who wants to make all my dreams come true.  I am a single woman who needs a regular paycheck and health insurance if I want to continue to live in a house, drive a car, and have food to eat.  So I have to table that dream for right now, but it is something that will happen.  I will have my own practice one day!

So, for now, it's trying to make a work decision that is right for me.  I think I know which way I am going to go, I just need to take a few deep breaths, build up my confidence, and make my choice.  I will let you know what I decide.

So, this was not the best week for me.  I gained 2.2 pounds this week, partially due to my monthly cycle (sometimes it's just so great to be a woman), and to the fact that I was off my game as far as what I was eating.  When I looked back on what I ate last week, I realized that I was not getting in as many fruits and vegetables as I normally do.  So that is the focus for this week.  Hopefully it will show on the scale!

To everyone out there who has their own tough decisions to make, or who have made them and are second guessing themselves, know you are not alone.  Feel free to share your thoughts with me, or if you are in need of good thoughts passed your way, let me know.  I am always happy to send good thoughts to my friends!