My C-Ray of Life: Change is in the Air

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Change is in the Air

The past few months have flown by in a sort of whirlwind that has almost had my head spinning. In fact, my last blog was in August and let me tell you since then my world has been rocked. Let me give you a little update.

As you may know this year Phil and I were blessed to take several trips. Starting in April we went on a cruise, followed by a weekend in May to Boston and then in July we went to Hawaii. (I haven't yet blogged about Hawaii... but it's coming don't worry along with TONS of photos.) These trips were truly amazing, fun and eye opening for me. Within all of them there was a massive reoccurring theme that "something in my life had to give". As we would approach returning from these trips rather than having a sense of excitement to return home I would panic, melt down and become very anxious that I was returning to a stress level that wasn't healthy and was in these moments crippling. As the realization settled over me that I was over-committed, over-stressed and I was the only one who could change that. So I began to pray, talk with Phil and walk toward making changes.

In September I finally decided that it was time to step away from my full time job. Over the past couple years I have been growing my freelance client base. It is a dream of my to work from home doing freelance and potentially (Lord willing) one day being home to raise kids. The decision to leave my full time job was not an easy decision. I have been with the company for 5 years and have grown my position from basically the ground up. The company branding and marketing are in a lot of ways "my baby" and it is never an easy transition to pass the torch. So that being said, the actual transition has taken some time. After giving notice I stayed on in order to continue working while a new person was found and hired. So my last official day was Oct. 31. It is sort of hard to believe that I have let go but by the wise words of a friend I was reminded that drawing boundaries is important and healthy. So I drew the line. AND NOW.... I am a full time freelance designer! WHAT! freak out. (in a good way)

I feel so blessed to have this chance to follow this dream and thankful for a husband who is supportive and loving and able to carry the majority of our financial responsibilities. I'm so grateful that he was able to pursue his dream of being a PA and now I can follow my dream of being a freelance designer and photographer.

The most amazing part of leaving my full time job is that I am no longer driving to Ft. Worth EVERYDAY! My hour plus commute each way is a burden I have gladly thrown to the wayside. Though I must admit I think I will miss listening to so many audio books. (Audio books were my way of coping with road rage... and for me it works to keep my blissfully entertained and unperturbed by annoying - rude drivers.)

Things I have already learned:

It is still important to get up and get ready for the day...sitting in PJs all day doesn't make anyone feel good about themselves.
I still have to set a schedule because freelance can be perpetual hours.
Windows 8 sucks...haha just a little random free one for ya.

So if you want to check out my design website here it is. ConstanceRayDesigns.com