Trusting the dots.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=player_embedded#!

I just listened to a commencement speech made by Steve Jobs at a Stanford graduation. I will admit that until last week when he died, I had never heard of Steve Jobs.  I suppose that if it hadn't been for his death I would never have known about him- and if it wasn't for Facebook I may have never been inspired by him.

There was a lot in his speech that I could relate to.  I went to college, but after the first quarter I was bored with my Advertising Art classes and just took classes that interested me.  (I did keep taking the calligraphy class.)   After the second quarter I quit college to get married.  At the time I didn't understand that college was something I would miss in the future - I did not see the value in it. I always regretted that I had quit, but now I see how the dots connected.

At age 30 I started working for a newspaper - in the advertising department. Nothing I had learned in  college had really prepared me, other than, possibly, the interpersonal relationships class I had taken.  When I was 40, while still working for the newspaper, I was asked to become a Diversity Awareness Facilitator.  It was a big step for me, as I was still quite shy and lacked the self-esteem to be able to visualize myself in something so far outside of my comfort zone.  I took the opportunity and never regretted it.  Now I see that I was just connecting the dots again.

There have been times in my life when, like Steve Jobs, I had to find creative ways to get by.  My kids and I sometimes searched the roadside for bottles and cans to add to our recycling pile.  I would use the money to buy bread, milk, eggs and hamburger.

I learned so much in my job at the newspaper. I became self-aware and independent.  I found that I had something to contribute in life. I was given the opportunity to write and be published and  I was proud of the work I did.  I was recently laid off from the job that I loved - I was one of the old, cleared out  to make way for the new. I am waiting to find out what the next step is for me - I am still afraid, but now, having looked back, I can imagine going forward.

Thank you Steve Jobs - for the helping me to connect the dots.