The past year has been tough for many of my close friends and colleagues. Some have been hit by personal tragedy, others by illness. The ‘Big C’ seems to loom its ugly head ever larger and people deal with life challenges in such diverse ways.
To be the person I am today, I haven’t always been dealt what would be called ‘an easy hand’…. I guess we could all say that, eh!? However, every experience in my life has been character building and no matter how negative a situation may have been at the time, I have always take something from it into the future.
I have commented in the past that when I was at school, no-one would ever have considered my job to be a potential career path. Careers advisers would have laughed at the mere thought of it and any kind of assessment to try to ascertain the ‘right’ route for me to take, would not have featured the concept of being the MD@FWL.
My route in life for many years was unplanned with only short-term goals. Even when I decided to put all my eggs into the FWL basket, I didn’t have what would be considered as a business plan! I remember someone asking me where I saw my business in five years time when I had just left ‘the day job’ and I had no idea…. Oh, how much has changed!
At the core, I am still the same person. I am very lucky to now work in a field of (generally) extremely caring, like-minded individuals. Professional family historians/genealogists across the globe are inherently very generous of their time and supportive of other members of the community. This was brought home loud and clear this week when a geneamate over in the USA (who I only know via social networking channels) was going through a tough time and her Facebook was awash with supportive posts, pictures and messages from fellow genealogists across the globe.
You know what…. sometimes life throws some tough stuff at you. Accept the support of friends, acquaintances, colleagues etc. as it will make you stronger through the dark days. Those who are with you when the chips are down are the keepers….
Source image: Pulp.net
