What I learned in 2006.

Evidently, if this is true, all I have to do is tell y'all what I learned in 2006, and $5 will be donated to charity. I'm not sure how, but I certainly can't deny a charity $5 (or my loyal 5.4 readers my fascinating wisdom), so here goes...

What I learned in 2006, in a general sense, is that we get what we deserve only after we truly believe that we deserve it.

Tricky.

This was the year of job searching and salary negotiating for me, under the pressure of a true Job from Hell and a crushing sense that I cleary wasn't getting the job and salary I wanted because I wasn't worth it.

A career counselor was hired, resumes were revised, books were read, appropriate attire was purchased, interviews were acquired and networking was done.

Jobs were offered, and, with great agony, turned down.

Because they weren't right. Didn't feel right. Didn't pay enough. Weren't challenging enough.

Because somewhere throughout the course of one of the most difficult, soul-sucking, painful years of my life, I learned the fine art of setting my own standards.

The fine art of halas.

And somehow, once the standards were set, and it was clear that I would accept no less than I was finally sure I was worth, I found a place to land.

One where I became the new kid on my own terms, and feel like a new person every day when I wake up in the morning.

Feeling more and more like my life and what I make of it is in my hands, and determined less by what others think of me, or by the sum of the worst of my fears, and more and more by what I make of myself.

It's cheesy, I know, but the facts don't lie. The island just doesn't always issue an invitation. Sometimes you have to swim out to it.

And for a bonus feature, a few other things I learned:

1) People who say that marriage is hard work are not just saying that. It is.
2) The hard work is totally worth it.
3) 30 is as terrifying as they say it is. But it's also as empowering.
4) It's important to go after corporations that screw you over. And if you're persistent, you do usually win. This year's tally in reimbursements due to negligible practices from ETS and the dry cleaners: $350+. But it's about far more than the money. It's about our dignity.
5) TV is bad for you. But Grey's is oh, so good.
6) I am capable of maintaining content on a blog for a year, if a bit more sporadically than I would hope.
7) Even situations that seem beyond hopeless are not.