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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Walking Away

Walking Away
Writer's Post #17

My career was who I was for many years.  When I introduced myself to someone I would usually say, "Hi, I'm Jo Heroux.  I'm a hairdresser."  So my name is most important, but the very next thing was what I do.  Odd, because it wasn't really the most important thing to me.  I just thought it was the most important thing to the people I was meeting.  It wasn't.  I know that now.

I walked away from my career and I have no regrets.  It was the right time and the right thing for me and everyone else involved.  

So, since I walked away from who I was, who am I now?



I am a daughter.  Been that my entire life.  I was raised with a lot of love and understanding.  My parents were loving and fun.  They had time for me, well, Mom did.  Dad worked a lot and wasn't home as much as she was, but he made time for us when he could.  I was the baby of three and I liked being the youngest.  I know that being the first born is special and I know that that sometimes is considered the favorite position in the birth order books.  I can see why that might be true.  I can see why first borns often think they carry more responsibility and maybe they do.  In our family the second born is the first (and only) boy child.  Those who study birth order say this is the same special spot as the first born in many ways.  The first boy is often treated with some royalty regardless of his actual order.  My sister and I dubbed our brother The Prince and I guess he will always be just that.  He is the only one who carries our family name.  The baby, me, is always the baby.  In our family it has taken me 6 decades to establish myself as a real adult.  Both my siblings are smart and successful people.  They have both raised wonderful girls into womanhood.  I have respect for each of them for their individual accomplishments and I love them both as people besides being my brother and sister.  My sister lives relatively nearby and she would be my friend even if we weren't related, I am sure of that.  My brother has lived hours away for many years and we aren't in contact nearly as often as we should be.  Moving away leads to living in different worlds, sometimes.  I still enjoy visiting with him when he is here and I still look forward to seeing him. We love each other, we just aren't on the same page very often.  Not walking away from my siblings.

I am an adult now.  I have succeeded in raising my son and my daughter into adulthood.  I am the grandmother to their perfectly perfect children.  I inherited 2 boys when I married Mike and they have given me 3 more grand daughters, another something is due in November.  I am happy in this place.  I have the life I have worked toward for most of my adult years.  I'm not rich and I'm not famous, but I'm not dead so either of those could still happen!  :)  Not walking away from these jobs nor these possibilities.


I am a friend.  My best friend and I have been together for 34 years and I cannot imagine not having her with me for the good and the bad.  She is the shoulder and she is also the sunshine.  Love my Shirley.  Not walking away from her.



I am a wife. Twenty-nine years and counting, we have shared our days, nights, children and parents, siblings and friends.  We have shared our lives for better or worse, more betters than worses.  We have sorrow and joy and again more joy than sorrow.  We have nearly called it quits more than once and found a way to stay together.  We have found a way to still be in love and still be best friends. At this age and at this point, not walking away from him.

Apparently, I am not very good at the walking away thing.  I am much more into sticking it out and making changes to make things better or if that can't be done, learning to accept what is.  



What I will walk  away from-every time-is anyone who just causes drama and stress in my life.  People who plug into me and proceed to just drain all my energy until I am just useless.  People who cannot make good decisions and then cannot figure out why everything goes badly for them.  People who constantly look for change in their lives by doing exactly the same thing over and over and over!  Stupid people aren't going to stay in my life very long because I am required to remind them of their stupidity.  I can't help myself.  I don't really want to either.  From these, I will walk away and not look back.


I did walk away from what I did...I won't walk away from who I have become.

Jo

16 comments:

  1. Something struck a chord with me here: "What I will walk away from-every time-is anyone who just causes drama and stress in my life." That is so much like me it is scary!!

    Walking Away--not always easy--but sometimes necessary and for the best!

    Great post!! Cheers, Jenn.

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  2. Jenn...I know! Walking Away is really hard for me except in those cases. Then I just go.
    Thanks for reading and sharing! <3

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  3. This was a wonderful post Jo and gave me such a valuable glimpse of who you are and what makes you tick. It makes me like and admire you all the more.

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com/

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  4. Got called to the kitchen...dinner wanted to be cooked. So...
    Leigh...you do? WOW...that's such a cool thing to say. I appreciate you, too. I have Bob to thank for bringing you into my life and I do THANK him. :) Thanks so much.

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  5. Kathy...I tell ya, that is one of my fav things about blogging and bloggers. We show ourselves, the good and the bad through our writing and I have found some fantastic people here. Most certainly including Miss Kathy the giggling truckers wife! Thank you so much

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  6. *trying again*

    This was terrific and I love how you walked us through who you've been and what is most important to you.

    Thia part: "What I will walk away from-every time-is anyone who just causes drama and stress in my life." really resonates with me. Life's too short to fritter any of it away on those who seek out and thrive on drama. Bah! Let them have it, but I want no part.

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  7. Beth...What a surprise that you would agree with me about the drama people! bahahahahahaha
    I swear you and I are related somehow, somewhere in our history we share DNA.
    The more I see inside of you through your writings, the more I know this is true!
    Thanks for trying again and sharing your thoughts. <3 u

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  8. It may have taken the act of walking away from the job, but it will never take away who you are. Good for you!

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  9. I started to say I'm not very good at walking away, then I realized it's only people I have trouble walking away from. But I've never really had to. Been lucky that way.

    Jobs are another matter. I've walked away from several jobs when I realized I wasn't happy doing them. But when I got my dream job, I thought it'd always be part of my identity. Then I walked away, and three months later had settled into a new life as a retiree/freelance writer/author-in-waiting. It turned out to be easy. I love my (part-time) job now even more than I loved the dream job. Hope I never have to retire.

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  10. I'm not good at walking away either. I stuck with my state job for 36 years. The stress was so high that even my doctor told me I needed to quit. But, I did not... I knew many people who left their jobs for greener pastures. Unfortunately some of those same people found out that the greener grass was because of the fertilizer.

    This is a really good blog, Jo. Thanks for writing and sharing yourself with us.

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  11. Good for you Jo. Let's hear it for the babies of the family!

    Joyce
    http://joycelansky.blogspot.com/2011/10/writers-post-walking-away.html

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  12. Susan...Right you are! Much of who I am is because I was a hairdresser for so many years, but leaving it only began the next chapter.
    Thank you for stopping by.

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  13. Angela...how lucky for you that you haven't had to remove people from your life. It is very difficult for me, but oh so necessary! I am loving every minute of retirement and wonder now why I waited so long to realize it.
    Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.

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  14. Darlene...LOL yep that fertilizer thing is EVERYWHERE! I appreciate you stopping by to read and let me know what's on your mind.

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  15. Joyce...Sometimes the babies are the lazy kids, but in my case I think I just developed my creative side to entertain myself! lol I love being Momma's baby girl at 61 years 9 months! he he
    Thank you for taking time to read my stuff. I love that.

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