The JOYS of this journey!

So I thought I would post a more uplifting type of thread for once…since usually I post when I am feeling a bit down!

I guess I have recently been seeing the glass as “half full” regarding my whole doubting journey which if I was honest is my usual personality in all other areas of my life.

You know, though those that doubt experience grief without question, the overall experience isnt all bad.

For example:

I always thought I was fairly liberal thinking LDS member even before any doubts arose. I never thought that just because I was LDS I was better then those around me. BUT obviously somewhere in my subconscious I did think these things, as though I never thought such things, I also never actively sought non-LDS centric type experiences.

This may not be coming out right. One example would be that I was happy to have non-members as friends, but I probably invested more in my member friends, and thus have stronger friendships overall with members then non-members.

Over the last couple of months I have withdrawn from the Corporate world after only returning to it after having kids on a PT basis this year. I resigned due to not needing the financial support and the job just not being a perfect fit for me (I was working as a Financial Planner). I work for the mental stimulation more then anything else. My dh is a high flyer exec that works crazy hours, travels heaps etc…but he loves it, its him, he is good at it, and he earns a very high income…so I support him in that….I carry a lot of the domestic load with the home and 3 kids etc. This arrangement works for us, when he is home he is at home and I consider myself in many ways to have one of the best husbands in the world. Personally working for a corporation was hard to juggle as I was constantly feeling guilty to either my kids, or to my clients (which ever party had to be put off due to the needs of the other!). I know any other working Mother will get what I am saying.

Anyway I resigned and decided for once in my life to just not have anything demanding for a short season, and to just wait and see what happened. Then I saw a charity advertising for volunteer financial counsellors that was located very close to my kids school.

So I went along and said I was up for helping one day a week. I am in my mid 30s, and most volunteers are retired, so to say they were blown away by my offer was an understatement. I loved the initial meeting as I was so out of my comfort zone (no slick highrise office, this charity runs from an large old house, has bearly sufficient funding etc. Raw is how I would describe it and it was exciting to me to face such an unfamiliar environment…I am up for this challenge).

A couple of observations I have made to date that relate to my LDS part of my life are as follows:

1. Though I have been licensed by my government to provide financial advice to high net worth individuals (the industry here is highly regulated) …before I am able to see any clients, and proceed to explain any options to them with regards to things like dealing with debt collectors, considering whether to become officially bankrupt, deciding to foreclose on their home etc…..I must first attend 4 months of training one day a week.

I was not phased by this requirement at all….I AM A LEARNING JUNKIE….this demand of the charity from me actually made me respect them even more!!!!

I also could not stop myself thinking “This is what the church should do…call the Bishop as per the normal process…but then tell them before they commit that for the first 6 months all the usual mid week mtgs will be scaled down (or made monthly) and once a week the new bishop and counsellors would be required to undergo generic counselling training provided by a professional etc). Then they would be expected to hold the calling for X number of years (I was told by the charity that they wanted a one day a week commitment for 2 years before they would allow me to attend the training).

So I may take the time at some point to share my experience with SLC and make this suggestion!!!

2. The other thing is that I have become SOOOOOO inspired by the other volunteers that I have met since the training started last month. These are everyday people…all from different backgrounds, all with one interest at heart…that is giving back due to them feeling blessed! Many are not that old, but in a position to work less for money and use their time in other places.

The training involves a lot of industry experts coming in to teach us the nitty gritty of certain aspects of financial counselling like gov welfare available, comm services out there etc etc. yesterday it was lawyer that runs an organisation specfically designed to help tenants (usually from lower income areas) get fair treatment from landlords etc. He is a lawyer earning probably 10% of what he could in the corp world, but his passion was tangible…he was a true advocate to these “vulunerable” members of our community.

So basically I am actually really loving having my eyes opened a little to the world that exists out there in reality. I didnt even think I was closed off (Ive travelled, Im educated, LDS church is not rich in my community etc) but I can see now I was only slightly seeing what existed out there in non-LDS land. Its firmed up my belief that most people are good…some are not so good, but most are good if not great, some are extraordinary and some are just inspiring to be involved with. I feel so blessed to be living in this dynamic world of today!