Life Rhymes...

I was listening to the California Report on KQED in the car the other day and Michael Krazny's guest quoted Mark Twain: "History doesn't repeat itself, at best it sometimes rhymes." The quote struck a chord.

This week has been a particularly stressful one for me. A combination of the economic situation and a business unit reorganization generated layoffs of around 10% at my firm. I had been somewhat worried about the *safety* of my own position but I can thankfully report that I am still employed. Unfortunately, the positions of both my direct manager and her manager (my skip-level manager) were *eliminated* (euphemisms abound in these situations!).

The new organizational structure is much flatter and my new manager is a good friend. I'm happy for him because it's a great new role for him and I'm even happier for myself as I now have a cleaner reporting structure, more responsibility and the most triathlon-friendly manager I will ever have in my career! There'll be no need to explain why I need to miss the industry conference in Miami in October since I have some small race I'd like to do in Hawaii. He was calling and texting my coach all day long when I raced IMAZ and I'm sure he'll do the same for Hawaii... that's of course if he doesn't come and watch for himself!

This was not my first *downsizing process* at a financial institution but I feel very lucky that my position has never been *eliminated*... I've seen dear friends lose their jobs but on this occasion and in previous situations, I have been positively impacted. With the increased responsibilities, I'll be feeling a *little over my skis" for a while but I'll grow a lot in the process.



The Mark Twain quote felt pertinent as I wrestled with my new career reality, anxious about the new office world order, nervous about my bigger role and sad about the exited colleagues. I've been there before. The situation is different so "history has not repeated" but I've dealt with similar issues. Some physical and emotional rhythms are repeated... The echoes and resonances of those past experiences will help me handle the new situation with greater confidence than I might otherwise.