Because I am Happy...

I come from a little country in the center of Balkans where people share something great that happened to them and then immediately spit three times and always say 'neureklo se', which loosely means 'hope I don't jinx it' and then rush to bring up something unfortunate that happened to offset the great thing and thus maintain the balance of luck around them.

As I do enjoy breaking a rule once in a while I want to tell the whole world about how happy I am as this does not happen every day. So if I run into a dry spell after posting this, and sooner or later I will because I am from Balkans, I want to be able to read this to reignite what I feel today.

So, I got a big promotion at work! This is huge as I have beaten few odds to get here and now all of a sudden people are approaching me and telling me I am their role model! I want to make it clear though, luck had nothing to do with this, it was all my belief in me and my hard work. Well, on the second thought… there was a gazillion of lucky events that made those who supported me invest their time in me and carry me through the finish.

As I am celebrating I remember how it all started seven years ago when I returned to work from my maternity leave after giving birth to Ena, and realized that my job was boring and depressing, and that I had the power to change it (yes, this had something to do with religiously ensuring my kids' naps overlapped with Oprah's daily episode so I can watch it in piece). I wrote down on a note on my desktop that I wanted to be a manager in a year or something like that… and then I got off my bum and stormed into the director's office and told him I needed a change and explained how he could better use my awesome potential. So, within two weeks he got me transferred to likely the best job I will ever have in my entire career, and there I spent five wonderful years and fulfilled the wish in my note after two years, not one, but that was fine.

From then on it was all about letting go and leaving what felt too comfortable for a new challenge, and believing in myself just a millimetre more every day until I finally summoned the courage to admit to myself how great I was at what I did. And now, two new challenges later, I am in an executive role and love every minute of it even when it scares me to death.

After getting home in the evening, I told my kids about my promotion and how much it meant to me. They felt so happy for me that they started playing music and invited me to dance... And as we were jumping up and down like a bunch of crazy people, I thought to myself... Life really does not get better than this… I better spit few times, just in case.