On first days in a new place

Remember when I told you about my possible teaching gig at my local College?

Spoiler alert: I took the job, and all is well now!

But let’s start at the beginning:

Once I decided to take on this new roll, I was a little excited, and scared - my favourite: “Scare-cited”! That’s when you know you’re on a path that is good / right for you.

Then comes Day 1. I didn’t know what to expect, so expectations were low. But I was hopeful that it would be a good day.

Day one was SO AWFUL! Oh my goodness. I felt so disoriented, confused, overwhelmed and floating in the middle of nowhere. I’ve had my own businesses for over 2 years now so I haven’t had a “first day at a job” in a long time. Crikey. That’s vulnerable and tricky stuff. Everybody was really nice to me, it's just the feeling I had inside of me.

I seriously regretted my decision that day (thinking all days might be like that). I cried about it a couple of times.

I lead my “divine your life” class which is a mix of yoga & meditation on Monday evenings. Just being in that calm space with everyone filled my soul and calmed me down. And I just hoped that it would get better.

Which it did. Thank the universe. Phew! The whole first week was prep, so each day I got more information. The other instructor had a bit more time to spend with me to get me up to speed. We made a schedule (That was a biggie!). I learned about marking, upcoming projects & classes. I spent more time with the students, and we actually placed concrete sidewalks together!

We’re close to being done already and I’m enjoying it! They’re good people, and I quite enjoy the teaching! Carpentry is a lot of math. I think my math tutor who supported me through high school would be shocked that I am now teaching it! Funny how life works.

The moral of the story?

First days are HARD! Beginnings are hard. Being in a new space, new people, new responsibilities. It’s all out of our comfort zones. And when we say yes to the challenge, we rise up and meet it. And it becomes easier. We learn, adjust, get used to things.

And most importantly, first days don’t last. It will get better.

Unless you’ve been in a job for a while and you totally hate it. Then we should definitely talk and come up with a strategy to get you the heck out of dodge!