Adulting is for the BIRDS.

By: Shea Harris

In a little over a month I’ll be twentyfine. It’s been two years since I walked across the stage and I’m still as shocked as some family members. I swear time has flown by, it feels like I was just putting on my cheerleading uniform to cheer for a Friday night football game. The past few weeks I’ve been doing a bit of reflecting on my life and can’t help but to think that I might be in a little over my head. I feel like I jumped into the young professional life too quick. Just thinking of all the places I could have gone, things I could be doing and experiencing, I’m just a bit disappointed in being an employee at the moment.

I was in such a rush to become an adult, I’m struggling at an all time high to continue being one. Go to college they said. Get a job they said. Be an adult they said. They lied bruh. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so thankful for my education (and the thousands of dollars of debt I’m in) but I should’ve re-thought this whole adulting thing. I’ve literally been working since I was 16 years old and I clare that’s all I know. In order for me to walk across the stage on graduation day, I had to use a floating holiday. I didn’t go on a “graduation vacation”, or whatever you call it, I went to work the entire week after graduating. I didn’t go on vacation until the 4th of July.

I honestly feel that I’m in this weird space and really tired of being an adult. I’ve been in my industry for a little over 2 years and it’s bit overwhelming. Maybe it’s because I’m a millennial, the fact I’m lazy or simply because I want to live my life! At times I feel a bit held back due to working a full time job and not making time to actually live my life to the fullest. My family and friends always say Shea you’re never home, but if I had more paid time off, I really would never be in Miami. There are so many places I want to travel to, so many people to visit and so many experiences to well…experience!

Now if you take a look at my resume, I’m doing pretty well for myself. Yeah I have a full time job in my industry, get a paycheck, live in Miami and blah blah blah, BUT I haven’t visited all the places I want to visit. Y’all remember that book Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss? Bruh, how can I go places and I’m sitting in this cubicle 40 hours a week? How can I go places and I have to pay to live? How can I…okay you get the point. Let’s just say I wish I would’ve taken my time to jump into this adulthood. If you’re still in college or applying for jobs, I suggest to take your time. Travel to different places, enjoy your vacation, take advantage of living with your parents, take advantage of being in college. Once you walk across that stage and decide to jump into the real world, it’s no turning back.

Do any of y’all share the same sentiments as me or nah? Let me know below. 🙂

 

Lemonade Part 2

Welcome back! I promised you all there would be a part 2 and here we are. If you’re just now joining, be sure to check out Lemonade Part 1. Now that you’re up to speed let’s continue 🙂

Love Drought

Make sure you love what you do. When you feel the love dwindling, try and find something else that may interest you or challenge you at work. There’s nothing worse than going through the motions at work and wondering if you actually love what you do. You can’t necessarily quit because you have to pay rent and feed yourself. You don’t know if you want to continue working at the establishment because it’s just not fun any more. You came into this job loving it and a few months later, you’re feeling ehhh. So do you walk away or stay?

Sandcastles

At my previous place of employment, I had a plan. I knew the department I eventually wanted to transition into. I knew the position I wanted. I felt like I knew it all! I gave myself 5 years to stay in Durham, NC. Now Lord knows I hated Durham and it just wasn’t really the place for me to be. I promised myself I would leave this job until I became a CRA (clinical research associate–monitor for short). Trust me, everything you plan for doesn’t necessarily happen. I just knew I would be traveling the United States and various clinical sites right about now. Obviously my plan wasn’t God’s plan and I had to move in his direction.

Forward 

When things don’t pan out the way you want them to, you just have to swallow that pill and move forward. If God is telling you to stay still, stay still. If God is telling you to move, move! Now if you want to be stubborn like me and try and follow your plan trust me, God will pick you right up and place you where he wants you to be. Don’t become stagnant in your line of work. Matter fact, don’t become stagnant in your life. Get yourself together and move forward. Stop looking back and feeling bad about not taking another position. What’s done is done and you have to move forward!

Freedom

Now that you have gotten out of your feelings, its time to be proud of yourself. This is something I struggle with to be honest. Everyone around me is so proud of the milestones I’ve completed and I’m just like “Bruh, I’m just out here living”. If you’re not proud of yourself or ashamed of the decisions you’ve made, it’s time to break those chains! Stop letting doubt, insecurity and disappointment hold you back. You are a magnificent person and you know who you are. Stop being chained down by these negative thoughts. Dust your shoulder off and hold your head high!

All Night

Now that your head is high and you are out here popping in these streets, remember to not overwork yourself. So many times in the office we want to prove things not only to others, but to ourselves as well. We promise to make impossible deadlines, we say yes to everyone around us and end up giving ourselves the short end of the stick. Often times we over work ourselves and pull all nighters to finish work or personal projects. Honey, get your rest. If I know one thing that is true, it’s that we need our rest. We need our rest to function appropriately and provide top notch quality. Get you some rest shawty and remember to breathe!

Formation

So we love what we do, followed God’s plan, left behind negative thoughts, have our confidence and rest. What’s next though? I say surround yourself with like minded people if you haven’t already done so. If you have people in your circle who aren’t trying to make moves and stay in the same spot they’ve been in for the past 4 years or more…Bye Felicia. But seriously, everyone isn’t going to be happy for you. Some people are going to be jealous and some are just going to straight up tear you down. If you’re surrounded by those chasing after the money, dreams and goals, you’re bound to succeed together. As Bey said, Always stay gracious best revenge is your paper.

Thank you as always for checking out the post and let me know what you think!

Lemonade Part 1

By: Shea Harris

In case you were wondering, I’m not going to do a think piece on Lemonade. I feel like the whole blogosphere has done enough of that for me and the next person. Instead I’m going to shift gears and give you another perspective on the visual album. I was looking at the titles of the album and realized a lot of them (and some of the lyrics) can be applied to work. Now just give me a second before you make your way up to the X in the top right hand corner, haha!

This post will be broken into two articles, y’all know I’m not a huge fan of extensive posts.

Pray You Catch Me

When applying for jobs we’re always praying that out of the first few jobs we apply to, one will be our employer. Each time I have began applying for jobs I got my hopes up that out of the first batch of applications, one of the positions would be the one! I always envisioned the employer would be running to me with open arms of acceptance. My resume was popping. My experience was lit. For some reason it took several batches of applications for me to get the call for an interview.

Hold Up

I finally got the call for an interview and it felt like I was having heart palpitations.  I’m great at interviews and pretty good at knowing if the employer will really want me to represent their company. The problem occurs when you have multiple interviews though. Don’t be too quick to jump at the first offer on the table because you never know what the next person will offer you. You literally have to chill and pump your breaks before you miss out on your blessing.

Don’t Hurt Yourself

When you have multiple interviews lined up, you also have to be aware of who you are as an individual. Most of the times we’re holding ourselves back from a bomb job and don’t even realize it. During my time in North Carolina I couldn’t figure out why things weren’t going my way. Once I realized I wanted to leave my previous employer, I was so adamant on returning to Charlotte. None of the places I applied to in Charlotte would call me to schedule an interview. I was literally holding myself back by attempting to stay in North Carolina.

Sorry

Once I realized it was time for me to relocate, I began putting myself first. I stopped feeling sorry about leaving my family and friends in North Carolina. I had to finally do what was right for me. I applied to jobs all over the United States and was blessed to be able to move to Miami, FL. Don’t apologize for being selfish and making boss moves on your own. The people who truly support you and your decision to make a better life for yourself will be in your corner no matter what.

6 Inch

The same people I vibed with in North Carolina are still in my corner and encouraging me to continue doing my thing! I began making my own avenue for myself down here and not letting anyone or anything get in my way. When my manager introduced me to my role, I made sure I worked my ass off. No matter what industry you’re in, don’t forget to work hard for your money and work smart for it as well.

Daddy Lessons

Although money is what keeps us fed, clothed, sheltered, etc, keep in my mind…money is not everything. My dad always told me: It’s a whole bunch of people out here with plenty of money that hate their job. Having all the money in the world doesn’t make you happy. I have continued to spread that word to many of my peers because sometimes we can get caught up. We love our material things and cant go hungry, but hate our job. I don’t want to go too much in depth because that leads us into Love Drought.

 

I hope you all enjoyed the post so far and don’t be afraid to let me know what’s on your mind in the comments.

To Be Continued Next Week 🙂