Day 269 - Quotable

 QUOTABLE

Prompt - Quotable : Use a popular quote for a speaker and use it as inspiration for your writing

Quote from Martin Luther King : You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

She sat back from the keyboard, pushing her chair out of reach of the desk.  A bit of space, a little pondering time.  Slow the breathing, untangle the nerves, allow the fear to sink back down below the surface.  Feel with the gut.

There are no certainties in life, are there?  They say that death and taxes are, but is even that true?  You have to earn enough to be taxed, and they seem to change every year anyway.  Death will come, but you don't know how, or when.  As for the rest of it, nothing is predictable.  Especially when a global pandemic hits and turns lives this way and that, changes old habits into new, rearranges your world.

She'd been happy in her job.  She thought she'd been happy in her job.  She thought they were happy with her.  But working from home provided new evidence, and she wasn't sure who was guilty.  Her mental health suffered from trying to work in isolation, and the lack of support provided.  Zoom meetings provided further stress as she struggled to get her words across, orr even out.  And when it became clear that management saw big advantages in costs to have reduced office staff it became too much.  

Confidence frayed to ripping point, she tried to see a way forward.  Through a fog of confusion and doubt.  Through tears that all too often dropped a veil across her view.   There had to be something better than this.  Conversations with friends, with family, all advising change.  But she'd been in the same place for six years, didn't feel she had the skills she'd need to move on.  

It was her old schoolfriend who had the key, unlocked the barrier she had put up.  Told her that she was in a bad way, that moving on was the only way out, and up again.

Another friend mentioned a vacancy at her place, that might just be what she needed.  Application submitted, interview faced, and here was the answer.  They wanted her.  There would still be some working from home, but this place wanted people to have face to face contact as well, valued team spirit over immediate cash.  And she already knew someone there.  

But.  There was always a but.  It would be less secure.  She would have to learn it alone at times.  Flying solo.  The company itself had been struggling though the lockdowns and their future was far from clear.  How long would it take her to get into being considered for promotion?   There are no certainties...

There are no certainties...

More of the same or take the risk?  She'd take the risk.

Would she take the risk?

She had the reply all set.  Accept.  Take the job, go for change, however unclear the future.  She was poised to send.  But pushed her chair back.  Where would this lead her?  But where would staying lead her?  There are no certainties...

She pulled her chair back into the desk.  She clicked the mouse.  One step taken.