The twisted path

You never know the path life will take, but you can be certain it will have ups and downs. Sometimes there are curves, other times it can get all twisted and down right confusing. If you're lucky, it all straightens itself out.

Each of us has a story to tell. Some people though are more expressive. Some... like myself, are writers. You simply can NOT stop the stories. You could ask me why I love the number 5, and I would probably take you on a ten minute journey that includes the race track, a certain horse, and a time in the 1980's when it wasn't socially acceptable to take you kids to the track.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

I'm a storyteller. Can't beat that out of me. Now, sure, Twitter and its 140 character limit has tried. But.... I can get creative with abbreviations.

Today's story, however, goes in another direction. I was thinking about my career path and what, if anything, might be next.

16 years ago I was sitting at a desk, typing in planting directions for the back of seed packets. It was a graphic design job and I adored it. Then one evening, I was helping with a neighbor's roses when a second neighbor stopped in and mentioned a new job that was being created in his school district. The big selling point was the salary.... and I applied. It took a few interviews, and one amazing reference from an amazing lady who believed in me (more than I believed in myself) and voila... my career path took a turn.

Fast forward several years and I was still absolutely loving my job. I worked for the best people. I truly had the greatest boss. Everyday I had new challenges. Every week I felt smarter and more capable. And then my amazing coworkers and bosses started to retire, and some moved out of province to further their own careers. That's when things took a turn. It was a pretty dramatic and ugly turn, and it was soon after that I found myself looking for a new path.

I did a total 180 and went completely in another direction, buying a struggling restaurant. I turned it into a popular diner and haven't stopped to look back since.  Until today. What a strange sequence of events... from carrot seeds to restaurant owner.

Do I regret a thing? Not a chance. Do I know what's next? Nope.... but there really should be an APP for that.