Intro to choices ~

So much has been going on in past six months when I made the decision to leave public service after 20 years service. For all but the last three years I enjoyed what I did and for the most part I enjoyed the people I worked with. The unit I worked in was not perfect and we had our glitches but, we had worked together over 5 years exceeding department expectations and standards annually; for the most part we worked to each other’s strengths. 

When our new manager came in - she created a work environment that became a toxic cess pool. Within two years of her being there over half the staff left.   This manager is a bully!  Informal reporting processes were being taken advantage and formally reporting processes, at all levels, were not being adhered to.  Finally I decided to transfer out.  My transfer request was successful but I couldn’t get a firm start date.  Finally my new ‘pending’ manager called me into his office to listen in as he made a call to my manager.  “...have you decided on the date we can expect Carleana to join us?” he asked.  My manager replies “I won’t sign off on this transfer because I don’t have to”.  Once the conversation ended, I knew I had to take a serious look at things.  That place was negatively affecting my mental, physical and spiritual health.  

20 years with an employer I enjoyed (until then); a secure job; three children starting post secondary school in the next three years; health benefits and so much more or.... my life.  Sounds dramatic I know but....that was my reality.  I was ill more than not.  I had given up many of the activities I loved because I was just exhausted on many levels.  I’d lost touch with many friends and worse...it was causing conflict in my relationships with my husband and my children.  So, when I looked at what was important.... the choice became brutally clear. 

I looked at the things I could change and set in place a plan.  Then I left that place, to follow my dream; my passion.

I have been working with children and families for over a decade on many levels.  Most all the challenges these families faced were dealing with the school system.  I worked with parents whose children were living with the challenge of one diagnosis or another and most all because of some form of bullying.  Where there is conflict or friction....there is a pending change.  That is just the natural flow of life on all levels.  The only thing we have ‘control’ over is our attitude toward it.  In everything we do, we have choice.  Sometimes, at the time, our decisions seem hard and “not fair”; it is what it is!

Standing in the middle of a crisis trying to decide whether to live or not do we really need to hear some ‘successful’ person announcing “It gets better”?  So, I decided I’d continue to work with myself and others in what I refer to as “In the meanwhile” phase.  This blog was created for my ‘in the meantime’.  I didn’t have website and I still have a few more things I want to do before I transition everything to my formal website (www.itbeinc.ca). 

It’s the Butterfly Effect Inc, ~ Helping you find order in life’s chaos is my business.  I don’t claim to ‘fix’ people, but I do believe when we have someone who will listen to us without judging, we can find our own solutions.  Sometimes our lives become as disorganized as a closet or garage.  Cleaning it out seems to be a daunting task and so...we try to shove one more thing in and close the door fast OR we curse that mess as we try to find something in that chaos professing “I’ll clean this next week” – which never comes until.....you can no longer ignore it.  

The Butterfly Effect is the theory that if a butterfly flaps its wings in New York, it could cause and hurricane half way around the world.  So, based on that belief, if we make a small change in our own lives the potential outcomes could be grand for us too.  Once that cluttered space in our life is cleaned and organized, imagine the changes that await us.

Since retiring, I’ve added to my accredited skills Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, safeTALK and Self Abuse Finally Ends.  Soon I’ll be in California completing my soul coaching accreditation and shortly after that I will be in Spain on my Camino Santiago de Compostella.  I have also formally brought to life my vision of an anti-bullying program Artistically Speaking Out Against Bullying (www.asoab.org).  Between March and April ASOAB ran a six week pilot project that was amazing and has earned me a nomination for one of the Pillar Community Innovation Awards.

Until I am back home, in August, I will continue to update this blog.  In the meantime if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment on this blog or email me at carleana@itbeinc.ca

And just as I close off...if you have a bullying story you’d like to share please send it to carleana@asoab.org  I’ve been asked if any of the families I’ve worked with would be willing to share their storied in a documentary.  I extend that offer to you as well.

Please take the time to visit "Carleana ~ A Soul Coach's Journey" blog as well.  http://carleana-csc.blogspot.ca/

Blessings, Carleana