Hey There 2010.

2010 has been a whirlwind thus far. A pretty good one at that.

It began with great anxiety as I prepared for my national counseling examination, the last stage in a few year process to be licensed in DC as a professional counselor. This is THE goal following graduate school and it's been a pain in the a**. But I have perservered. And my husband has perservered with me (I'm sure he has gotten the brunt of my stress and unpleasantness).

As of January 5th, 2010, my career as a counselor has officially began. Yes, I've been doing counseling and mental health work for some time now, but now I work under my own license, can bill insurance and it allows me to do a lot more in general in the field.

Along with my license came a nice new job position at work. This has been transitioning since last June, but as of last week I took over my own team to supervise and lead 6 awesome, great people. The Lively team is born!

Hence the whirlwind. My feet didn't touch the ground a few days after my test, but they quickly came down as I have been completely overwhelmed at the responsibility, tasks and challenges for this new role. Now I feel like I can't find my legs underneath me. I have to tell myself, "walk, think, talk, you can do this"!

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE this new role. The people I am working with are amazing and have been so supportive of me through out the process. My team has believed in me from the beginning and that feels undeserved, but I am grateful. I am energized, motivated and can't keep my thoughts from racing...My struggle is figuring out how to do this all at once. I realize I know so LITTLE and the learning curve is straight up. If I could soak it up quicker, I would...Each day my brain feels saturated yet there is so much MORE to do, learn, lead, think, understand, experience....

I give God all the thanks for this new opportunity. My prayer is that I will pour into the people I work with as I have the families and kids I have in the past. While I lack experience, I hope to make up in spirit and effort. I am merely a vessel...it just looks different in this new place and position.

Anyone else ever feel like the learning curve is straight up and you are just grasping to hold on?

Grace...Grace....Grace....I am humbled.

Hope 2010 is off to a good start for you, too.