Karma for Sale

I have had a ten hour work day. I skipped lunch and powered through to finish some cookbooks for a client at the print shop. I also printed the last project after a year long series of mini projects for a client's wedding. Her mother dropped by to pick up the name cards for the wedding reception in a few days.

From the same mother, I was handed a card thanking me for my design work and for helping them with thank you cards, programs, invitations and everything else in between. Inside was a gift certificate for a local restaurant.

I'm starting my post off to prove a point. I am a hard worker and dedicated to helping people. So why, why am I getting the short end of the stick? Within the last 24 hours, I have been denied not one, but two career opportunities. I felt in my heart and soul that either one of these would work out for me.

Neither did. I am so thankful for this blog. Recently I have been seeking refuge here to voice my excitement and yearning for a new direction. For a brief moment, I felt true clarity. "This is what I'm meant to do," I would think to myself. Why did I think I would receive an offer to both?

I would like to blame my generation and the way we were raised. Everyone is a winner. No one really "loses" when we are younger. You get a participation reward or something! So I find myself at a loss on how to deal with these rejections and what to do next.

As I was sitting in my car at the light a few minutes from my apartment, a homeless man stood in front of my car waving a sign that read, "Karma for Sale". I laughed at the irony and he rubbed his eyes to pretend he was crying after I shook my head.

He then walked on to the next car.