As good as it gets?

Many of us have memories of being told by one or both parents that "we can grow up to be whatever we want to be, as long as we put our minds to it". (In addition, if you grew up in the type of churches I did, you had the preacher-of-the-week prophesies that you would “do great things for God”.)

But obviously there are some flaws in that statement. Shacquile O’neil (sp?) will never be a prize winning jockey, nor Danny Devito an NBA superstar, and no matter how much ugly people makeup they agree to put on Charlize Theron – she will (probably) never get offered the role of Winston Churchill…… (probably).

So, how do you be all that you can be and not give up in the face of adversity (almost typed “diversity” – sleep deprivation is a hilarious thing!!) WHILE acknowledging and embracing your limitations and learning to be content “in all situations”? How do you distinguish laziness and from acceptance of one’s lot in life?

I guess what started me on all this was the fact that “D” has once again been offered a high profile project that gets accolades from our group (and in this case – the president of the company). She’s almost like another supervisor in the group – she’s looked to for advice and direction in new projects before the other admin and I even know there’s something going on.

I’ve been doing admin work for the past…. 10 years at least. I work my ass off most times (apart from emailing and IMing on occasion.), but outside of a precious few incidents when I really shined I pretty much just meet expectations (and bosses are probably being kind – my inconsistency and flakiness on the job should put me at does not meet expectation, but the fact that I’m willing to work extra to fix things and am really nice bump me up a level).

No matter how hard I try, I can’t really seem to make headway or progress in this career – salary increases are mostly because of years of experience. And it’s not that I don’t like my job most days… I like helping and being needed (which I am), but it sucks the life out of me trying to be “detail-oriented”, and “consistent” and to “have good follow-through skills”, but these are things I’d need for ANY job.

Should I just accept that I never get awards or accolades – never have the time/energy to innovate – never be able to think in a concrete, logical fashion long enough to hold a decent convo with bosses – never be able to focus in meetings –never be great – and then wait around until bosses figure that out fire me?

At this stage in my life I can’t afford to be carefree and just jump into another career… My folks have no money and if there is any truth to the Archer family curse (my mother’s side of the family) – or if you look at the number of professional, smart black women who are still single it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that I’ll never marry. It’s just me… and I’m stuck… and I know… get your degree, but really – considering the number of years I’ve been in school already (too embarrassed to mention how many). Are 9 credits really going to make that much more of a confident and competent worker?

Ok, I’m done ranting for now… I swear I’ll be off this “debbie downer” kick…. Eventually.

Much Love!