I have yet to decide which of these I am.
When Lance started work at Deseret Industries over a year and a half ago, he really enjoyed his job. He was excited about it. He was proud of what he was doing. Then slowly, things started to change. Lance would come home upset, spend the whole evening reflecting on everything that had gone wrong at work, then go to bed hating the fact that he had to get up and do it all again. He voiced his concerns and frustrations with his management team time and time again, but to no avail. They seemed to shrug off his problems as little concern or simply didn't care enough to even make an attempt to make some changes.
But there were many benefits to working at the DI. They offered great insurance, and at little expense. Lance was home between 4-4:30pm every day. He never had to worry about working Sunday's. So I encouraged Lance to push through. Find a way to make it work. We have a mortgage to pay after all.
Things went from bad to worse. Quickly Lance was falling dangerously deep into depression and lacking any satisfaction from his job. And it had a significant impact on our family as well. I couldn't understand what was so terrible and why he couldn't just accept that working wasn't fun and that he may never truly enjoy his job. Lance was upset that I wasn't on his side and hated how unsupportive I was.
It took about hitting rock bottom for me to change my way of thinking. Suddenly out of the blue one day Lance came home and announced that he was looking for a new job and his goal would be to be done with the DI within a few weeks. I made a decision then and there that I would try my very best to put aside all my doubts and fears and just try to be supportive. And I was scared out of my mind. The DI was safe. Comfortable. I knew exactly what to expect, and I hated the thought of a job that didn't offer that type of security.
So while Lance was at work, I was scouring the internet for job openings. And let me tell you, that did nothing but heighten my fears. It seemed every job that Lance might be interested in were just out of reach. He was barely under qualified....for everything. Well, everything except sales.
AND I HATE SALES!!!
The thought of a quitting a consistent salary job for a commission job sent me into panic mode. I understand that there can be high potential for sales positions, but it's just that...potential. I wasn't quite sold on the idea of...if you are amazing you might make enough money to pay your bills. Oh.....and by the way...if you stink, you'll probably be swimming in debt shortly and possibly even forced to sell your house. Sounds awesome, right?
Sales jobs had me pulling out my hair, but if I eliminated them, there really wasn't other options that paid well enough to support where we currently were. And we assumed that neither of our parents would be thrilled with the idea of us moving in with them.
While biting my nails and pulling out my hair, Lance applied for several sales-type jobs. He had heard some decent things about RC Willey so he walked in one day inquiring about a job. They interviewed him on the spot and soon after called him for a second interview. Shortly after that, he was offered a position. Lance thought about it long and hard, and I thought he was going to take it. Though I questioned whether he was taking it because he really wanted the job, or if he was just so desperate to get away from his current job.
During this whole process, Lance had also applied with Enterprise Car Rentals and had an interview with them. He made it to the third and final interview and was waiting to find out whether he would be offered a job or not. So he asked RC Willey if he could have a week to think about it. Then he got the call from Enterprise, asking if he wanted the job. He told them yes and called RC Willey to decline their offer.
It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I tried to turn this decision fully over to Lance. I am a very opinionated, stubborn person and it's difficult for me to give him full control over such an important decision. But I tried my best to keep things to myself and give Lance my full support. I was not super thrilled with his decision to switch careers to Enterprise. We have a friend who works there and it seemed like all I heard from the wife was how he worked so much and how she was basically a single-mom. And she seemed hesitant about whether it was worth it or not.
I sat back, held on to my seat til my knuckles were white, and told Lance to do what he felt like he needed. Two weeks later, he was working at Enterprise.
Change is scary. Even if it's an exciting change, there is usually at least some fear of the unknown of what would come. And this job has definitely brought some changes at our house. Now, instead of being home at 4:30pm every day and having a few hours to spend with the kids and I, he shows up sometime between 6:30-7:00pm. When your kids start getting ready for bed at 7:30pm, that doesn't leave a lot of time to do anything. He now has most Saturdays off, but they quickly fill up with those errands and things we weren't able to do throughout the week. And even though he is working much longer hours, it was a couple steps back financially.
It has been a really hard transition for me. I already struggled staying sane and keeping control of myself and the kids until 4 o'clock; those extra few hours can be brutal sometimes. But do you know what happens at the end of those long (and sometimes miserable) days...??? I get a husband that walks in the door with a smile on his face. I have a husband who comes home excited to get down on the floor and play with the kids. I have a husband who is happy. Exhausted, but happy. And that makes all the difference.
*If you missed the post from Lance's perspective, click here. I asked Lance to write that post before reading my post. And it was really interesting to sit down together afterwards and read each of our opinions on the subject side-by-side.
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