Even when I try to hide...

I just read this on Karen Knowler's site (love her!) and of course I like to read ANYTHING about jobs and quitting them...or really, I like to read about having a job that I love so much that I don't want to quit. So I ran right in to read the article and of course once I was too far along, I realized it was practically ABOUT me. And I didn't even write her about my situation! How did she know? Well, another woman (and it sounds like SEVERAL other folks) "knew" and even in the middle of reading I went to play a game of FreeCell to make myself feel better.
I like my job for all intents and purposes. It's been an amazing experience of learning how to work with others, how to answer phones (I used to HATE it...my palms would sweat, I messed up people's names, hung up accidentally...awful!), how to keep my desk clean and my inbox organized, how to finish projects, and how to stay, even when things get challenging.
As I get clearer in my body, I seem to be getting clearer in a lot of other areas as well. I am outgrowing this job. I was already a bit too tight in some areas, but even after learning the ropes, I see that I am better used to serve elsewhere. I needed some training and some time to adjust to a stable schedule, and now that I feel insanely comfortable, I need to move on. I also *FEEL* the space I'd like to move into. I'm interested in community and also how to strengthen community around place, service, a common goal, etc. I have NO idea how that will play out, which is the only scary part. At present I am working on two situations where I am honing my skill, but because I am not paid, it doesn't seem to behoove me to leave my PT job just yet. I know what I need to bring in to make the leap less scary, but I'm not sure I will get that before it's "time to go." So I feel stuck around it. Quitting this job would be nice. Only because then I would have more time to do these other things. BUT, since I don't exactly know where the money will come from, can I quit my job while Josh is in transition as well? Plus, he wants to open a cafe soon, so it doesn't really look good that we just bought a house, a car, changed our financial situation, and now want a business loan. Hmm. What can I do in the meantime? Good question. Read the Karen Knowler article first.

When Doing Work You Don't Love Is No Longer An Option
Following on from last week's article about Raw Food & Self Love, this week I'm sharing with you a big chunk of my raw food history and how it affected my working life.

This comes in response to the questions emailed to me over the past week where three different ladies described their pain at not doing work they love and/or not knowing their direction. Having been there myself on more than one occasion I can attest to it being one of the most painful chapters of my life - but I can also attest to there being a happy ending!

But before I get into sharing my experience, let's take a moment to look at why this issue is so prevalent among health seekers/ raw foodies, as it most certainly is.

When you go raw you...
1) Wake up!
2) Become more sensitive (things feel much better or worse depending on what they are)
3) Get to hear your own voice more clearly
4) Start to be kinder to yourself and the world around you
5) Start to believe in a more "magical" way of living and being (because you can feel it running through your veins)
6) Feel more pain when things aren't a good fit for you (and don't use food to block that fact out)
7) Have more energy to take action
8) Are generally more positive and upbeat; you begin to believe (and witness) that anything is possible
9) Start to meet others like you and learn through what they have to say and what they have done that there is another way
10) Begin to feel brave enough and vital enough to take the action required to make some big changes, if required, in order to be true to you


In fact, the more raw you go, the more "raw" you get... emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually. I have found that it has come to a point where I have very little tolerance for anything that doesn't "work" for me (like a person who is disrespectful or angry, or an aspect of my life that doesn't support me or make me feel good). This is not a Karen phenomenon by any means - as time goes by you simply have to surrender to the way of living that is "being you own best friend" (not a bad way to live, I have to say! Amazing how difficult we find it initially though, non?).

To be clear, no, this doesn't mean becoming a diva or "above your station"! It simply means making choices that FEEL good, that don't entertain negativity and that serve you and those around you because they are good for everyone. The further you go with cleaning up your diet and body the more you will see this play out.

Quite simply raw food brings a physical purity that cannot happily co- exist with a unhappy heart, a muddled mind or a sleeping soul. This last sentence alone sums up why people yo-yo with raw foods for so long as they try to figure out what on earth is going on and also which package they are going to sign up for!

With all this said, I'm going to pass you over now to my blog where I've already published one of the ladies questions along with my answer to her, and the letters and responses to the other two ladies will follow over the weekend (one per day) as well as my own very long and winding personal story of work/life transformation, which, even if I say it myself, I feel is incredibly inspiring : )

I guess you could see it as one of my very many Gratitude Letters to Raw... I'll warn you now though, it won't be a 5 minute read, so you might want to make sure you're sitting comfortably ; ).


Continue reading here >>>

© 2008 Karen Knowler
Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes "Successfully Raw" - a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you're ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.