Terminated!!

I never realized all you had to do was start a blog and your dreams came true!! Two days ago I wrote that I yearned to start a new speaking career but was thwarted by the long hours and success I was having as a sales manager. Yesterday I was terminated!! A new corporation had just purchased the dealership where I was so gainfully employed. They had other plans. In hindsight, they weren't about to leave the running of their flagship store to a total stranger, so I should have seen the train coming.

The stated excuse for my inability to launch a new career now gone, I can move headlong into my dream of speaking for a living. One problem ... I am not independantly wealthy, nor do I have the financial strength to go for any period of time without substantial income. So I must find work, and find it quickly. I have family and debt, not unlike tens of millions of other hardworking people, and I must service both. Such is the grind ...

Still, I believe that I've been handed a partial victory, though future hindsight will be the only verification of that. I will now pursue employment that will accomodate my Toastmasters and NSA schedule, which means evenings and weekends available. Yes, that trims my options some, and as time goes by without work I will become less scrutinizing, but I must keep one eye on the ultimate career goal - becoming a professional speaker.

I had planned to sit this morning and pen everything I have felt in the last 24 hours, but that urge has passed. Suffice it to say that although somewhat terrified, I feel great! The thing that I could not do (quit) has now been done for me (terminated), so I am forced to move forward with my plans (talk about escape velocity, I feel like I've been shot out of a cannon!!). I will state for the record that of all the people I have personally fired over the last 20 years in the car business (that number is too high to mention, and anyone familiar with the business would understand that), a full 90% of them ended up in a better place. I plan to be no different. I now pray that I can take care of my finances and my family while moving forward. The great test now begins...