Thursday, July 28, 2011

May the Force Be with You

Yeah, just ignore my nerdy Star Wars pun in the title, that's just how I'm going to roll tonight! The thing is that there is just some kind of switch (maybe labelled the Take-Me-Seriously-Switch) that has been flipped inside me. I just feel confident and in control of my life. I've been this way for a while now, but I am just noticing that it is a change.

The other day I was getting a little annoyed as I was dealing with the Health Savings Account people. They had just done a bunch of things that were generally incompetent and were trying to give me a hard time. Before long, I realized that the woman on the other end of the line was going to send me down another rabbit trail. A year ago, I probably would have viewed it as something beyond my control, but instead I started directing her about how to help me. Once I told her what I expected and how she could do it, she was actually very helpful and did exactly as I asked.

I was working with Mr. Bull the other day on our data committee stuff, and suddenly I saw how to make things more efficient. A year ago, I would have focused on the vast amount I don't know about our data system and what we need the data for, but I just naturally saw something to improve and said, "I think we should do X." It turned out to be quite a helpful idea.

Yesterday as I was talking to Prelawguy, I was able to clearly communicate my feelings. "I love being your friend," I told him, "I don't want to hurt you. I am glad we're able to be friends, but I would understand if you changed your mind." A year ago, I was just not emotionally mature enough to be that clear in an emotionally charged situation.

I am such a nerd that I work on building credit, not to use but just to keep it in good standing. It seemed like my bank wasn't increasing my credit limit even though the other company I have was and I was getting offers in the mail. A year ago I might have ignored that situation, but something made me pick up the phone about a week ago and tell the bank "Make me a better offer or I will be closing my account right now and going to your competitor." It worked. I got a new credit line with rewards, really low APR, and a significantly higher limit. They offered it to me on the phone, and I got it in the mail today.

Sometimes I think that I struggle to actually grow up and be a functional adult. Lately, though, I'm a force to be reckoned with. I just suddenly seem to be much better at handling every area of my life than I ever have been.

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