New challenges

I walked into work distracted and annoyed. I had been working for my hometown newspaper for more than a year. I had a million things on my mind. I nearly knocked over one of the press workers that I passed in the hall. Another coworker held a door open for for me and I walked right by her, lost in my own little world.

I had originally dreaded coming back to my small hometown. After college, I figured I would be long gone from the area, moving onto bigger and better things, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I had missed the area and how much the job meant to me.

In my short-time at the paper, I had steadily taken on increasingly difficult assignments, had built up a nice selections of clips and experiences, and was starting to feel comfortable in my role. All that being said, I wanted more. I wanted more challenges, a bigger salary, and I was looking to be closer milage-wise to my girlfriend.

When I saw an help wanted advertisement for a reporter position with a small newspaper in Northern Virginia. I jumped at the opening. I sent my resume and clips, performed reasonably well in an interview that came later, and now had an offer in my hands

I fretted over the “catch-22” for a week, going back and forth on the right decision, debating whether I should stay at my current newspaper or take the offer and run. In the end, I chose the new opportunity. I moved closer to my girlfriend, and yes, we eventually got married.

Twenty-five-plus years later, I think often about that decision. I’ve been thinking about it especially since I’ve been faced recently with another big decision. I won’t get into the gory details, but I’ve been thinking about taking. leap of faith so-to-speak and making a change.

Like that first decision oh so many years ago, I’ve been weighing and reweighing my options. The decision has not been easy. I take comfort in a quote from best selling author Brene Brown, who begins each day with the mantra: “Today, I’m going to choose courage over comfort.”

I worry about making a mistake, but like Brown, I’m choosing to believe in myself and take the less-traveled route. In short, little risk, little gain; big risk, big gain.