This is going to be a slightly different stream of consciousness from me, and while it is difficult to vulnerable to hundreds of potential strangers, I feel like this is too important a topic not to discuss.
I have always been a daddy’s girl, I was too similar in temperament to my mum, whereas my dad was always the extroverted chilled parent. I looked up to the fact that my dad owned his own business and travelled the world, and I think that’s a lot of the reason I am in the same position right now. When you are younger you don’t necessarily see your parents as human and fallible, it’s easy to believe that nothing will ever change and that they will always be the adults guiding your way in life. Then you get older, and at some point, your parents become the ones who need looking after, and you take the role of carer.
Suddenly you are in the position of responsibility, and it’s a terrifying moment. My Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s last year and prior to starting his medication, went downhill very quickly. Suddenly he struggled to get his balance and his shaking was so bad at times he couldn’t hold his own drink. This was the man who used to be larger than life, who would always push me to fulfill my potential and was instrumental in giving me the confidence to live my life in a way that was on my terms, not society’s. I know it is a cliche, but when I was a little girl my dad was my hero.
I remember in my early 20’s I applied for a job at a world-famous organisation, and was invited to do two days of face-to-face interviews at their head office. I was, as you can imagine, incredibly nervous at interviewing and presenting over a 48-hour period and I remember saying to my dad why do I put myself through this stress. His response was that it didn’t matter whether I got it, it was important just to do it.
“You’ll only regret the chances that you didn’t take”
This advice is what I lived by for so long, I did the interview and got the job – although I turned it down, which is a story for another time! Somewhere along the line, maybe it was going through a divorce, or let’s be honest lockdown and a global pandemic I forgot this. It was only when my Dad was diagnosed did I start to think about it again. I think I had been coasting for a long time and was comfortable, but not challenged or growing particularly.
Now, this has stopped. I’m open. I’m open to experiences, saying yes to things, trusting the universe, taking chances, and taking accountability for things I need to do to get where I want to be. I am writing this because I want you all to remember that life is too short, and there will always be excuses not to do things. I promise that you won’t regret doing your CIPS training, it won’t be easy, but the gains in employability, confidence, and knowledge are worth it. We should not settle for less, we need to actively work at creating a life that we want because let’s be honest we don’t know how long any of us has left, and we don’t want to leave this life with regrets about what could have been.
Sending out a virtual hug to you and your loved ones if you are going through anything similar,
