If You Don't Close the Door Behind You, You Can't Open a New Door!

by Geri Mason,
Geri Speaks

When you work as a caregiver there are no guarantees that what you are doing this week will be the same six months now.  So you find yourself hanging on to what you have, even though it may not be what’s best suited for you.  We can be highly skilled in certain areas and barely passing in others.  Of course you give 100% of your efforts to every case no matter what the situation or circumstances.    No one knows your capabilities better than you.  This is true for all areas of our lives, not just career wise.  It is so easy to get caught up in being a “yes” person.  I know because I was one!  I hated to turn down a job when called to fill in at the last minute.  I wanted to be nice and help out.  But that was not the right thing to do.  Every client deserves the highest level of care that they are in need of. 
 
We know when we remain in places, positions, or relationships that no longer serve our well-being.  It does not take us by surprise!  We simply refuse to acknowledge and make the necessary changes to move us forward.  There may be other doors waiting to open up to us, but we are still peeping out the door that feels the most familiar.  Or we are hanging on because we are afraid to lose our status.  We like bringing home a certain amount of money each week.  We like telling our friends that we have a man/woman, and of course we love saying that we are self-employed although we haven’t given ourselves a paycheck lately.  Recently I was working for three different homecare agencies.  I watched myself juggle them each week and continually turn down cases for the weekend, because I was too tired from the other two.  One day I realized that I was preparing my response to a phone call that never came.  That’s when I made the decision to trust God and let go of one of the agencies so that I could give my very best to the other two, and look forward to my time off instead of thinking of excuses to not work.  Once I made that decision my income level between the other two agencies rose to where I needed it to be.  It was also a relief to be able to plan my weekends ahead of time without wondering whether or not I would be called to work.  When you hold onto stuff ‘just in case’ your just in case may very well come true.  I was able to open another door once I closed the previous one behind me.