Stilettos, Stoli & Scribbles ~ Served With A Twist

Happy Hump Day! Who’s living for the weekend? Me! Me!

I have a day job, you see. One at which I’m expected to appear Monday through Friday at 8:00am and stay until I throw in the towel and drag myself home. It’s one of the reasons our writing project is taking longer than expected. My bosses (I have two of them sitting within twenty  feet of me as I type this) feel absolutely no compunction about interrupting me if I’m working on anything other than what they pay me for.

That’s not, however, what this post is about. This post is about celebrating a victory and I want to share it with you.

After more years than I feel comfortable divulging, I just got a promotion! Yay me! Granted, I’m finally being paid for, and have the title to match, a job that I was already doing, but that’s not the point. The point is I won! I outlasted the bastards. I feel like pumping my fist in the air like Judd Nelson at the end of The Breakfast Club,

maybe even running up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art!

Seriously, this is me:

(Although, who am I kidding? If I actually attempted that, I’d probably make it about half-way up and then collapse, next stop, the emergency room.)

In any case, I’ve been holding this in for a week! Well, I had to tell Mom before I could tell you. It was only fair.

What I really want to celebrate is not the title or the raise (okay, maybe it’s a little about the raise), it’s the surprising boost to my morale. I feel validated as well as vindicated. I am good enough and smart enough, yada yada yada.

It’s amazing how good just a little bit of praise can make one feel. Remember the gold stars we earned when we were kids?  Or how about getting a test or a paper back with a hand-written “Good job!” at the top of it?  For many of us these were the first sources of pride that didn’t come from our parents.

Of course this isn’t the first time anyone in my professional life has acknowledged my efforts or that they think I’m good at what I do. I have a big stack of thank-you notes and letters of commendation from happy clients, and I appreciate every one, but this is different. This comes from “above”, from the powers that drive the machine and hold the financial reins. Hyperbole aside, it’s also public and written in the indelible ink of a campus newspaper announcement, and not colored pencil.

The best part though, is that I can already feel myself walking a little taller (although that could be the heels I put on today) and I know my voice sounds just that bit more confident. I can only hope that this new feeling of elation will spill over into other aspects of my life.  I want to surf this wave of endorphins for as long as possible – at least out the door to get back on to my walking schedule now that Spring is springing in the Northeast. Who knows what else I can accomplish? I’ll keep you posted.

What about you? I’ll bet there’s something going on with you, big or small, that is worth celebrating, whether it’s meeting a writing deadline, a step goal, keeping the kids alive for one more day or even just getting out of bed and putting one foot in front of the other (and we all have days where that feels like a major accomplishment).

So c’mon, do your best Demented Poodle or Spazzy Dance or just sit in your chair and do “Cabbage Patch” Arms like you just do not care. Kool & the Gang are calling.