My tribe of angels

When someone has a goal…. I love cheering them on and praying for them as they strive to reach that goal. I have made a goal to write a blog post every day in October…The 31 blog posts this month will help me start working toward my goal of writing a book. Intertwined in that goal - somehow I also want to create a support platform that helps women navigate through trials when life does not go as planned. Third down punt was created when I thought of how many times my life did not go as planned…. but it went exactly the direction it was meant to go.

My first “punt” was when I was in high school. I was tall, and people assumed I would play basketball. The problem was… I did not like basketball. My dad said he did not care what I did, but I was not just going home and watching TV after school. Ok…. I’ll join synchronized swimming! (I LOVED IT!) Four years, I got to take my problems underwater and let them just float away.

Then in college, I initially declared a math major because I always liked math, and thought I would become a math teacher like my dad. The problem was when I got to Calculus 3, I learned that even though I understood math, I would make a terrible math teacher. Math came naturally to me, but I could not teach it. So I punted…. and changed my major to Organizational Communication. My dad asked me, “What are you going to do with a BS in BS?” I promised to get a job…. even though I did not know what that job would be.

My BS in BS and a math minor served me well in the insurance industry. I always liked my job and it was the perfect blend of math and relationship building. But, after 19 years working in insurance…. It was time to punt again. So I left the secure job in insurance and jumped into the non-profit world. I can honestly say…. THIS is the job I was created for. I love my job at CASA, and I truly believe my job helped me beat cancer. Even on the crummiest chemo days, I had my family, friends and “Tribe” with me. The trauma and instability the kids CASA serves experience made chemo seem like a walk in the park.

Somehow, I want to use the resilience I learned fighting cancer and strength I see in the children and volunteers of CASA to build something that will help women when they need to punt. I don’t know what that is yet… but my friends, family and tribe of angels are helping nudge me along…. and it will be fun to see where the next punt takes me.