Today’s blog post is going to include a double Vector!  I know, sounds pretty intense, right!  I have a couple things to share, so here goes….

BIG NEWS!

The Winchester family got some big news last night.  Our oldest daughter got engaged!  This is such wonderful news and I am so excited for both of them. I like to say, they both found a great person to share their life with.  As a parent, your one hope is that your children find happiness in life.  While this news makes Mom and Dad excited and happy, I know it doesn’t compare to how happy our daughter is….and that makes us really, really happy!

HELP FROM STRANGERS

I have talked a little about my efforts to find a new job.  I do a lot of networking, writing posts and articles on LinkedIn, connecting with recruiters and doing my best to get my story out to a large audience.  It amazes me the number of people who either I know a little or not at all who are willing to help.  You just never where that one connection that leads to your next job will come from.  On Monday of this week I wrote a post on LinkedIn and it got shared a number of times by people in my network. This is not uncommon and I have been writing posts almost weekly for the last year.  This time, someone who I don’t know, saw this post via a share and decided to reach out to me with a couple people he thought might be good connections.  Just that simple act of kindness has lead me to 3 great contacts (and possibly more), a phone interview and a very solid lead on a potential job in less than a week.  He could have just as easily skipped reading my post or read it and moved on.  Everyone is busy these days with their own careers, families and lives, so I understand and hold no ill will against you.  I would have done the same in the past.  But life is full of lessons learned….

The lesson for me is that if you are in a position to help in life, take a moment and do it.  Just because things are all going your way right now, you may find yourself in a different spot down the road.  I have committed myself to “paying it forward” for all the help I have been given during this past year.  I have already started with the hope that someone can benefit from my experiences or network or connections.  Do yourself a favor, take a moment and lend someone a hand when you can.  It might just be the thing that opens a new door or opportunity or the thing that gives someone a new perspective and changes the direction they were headed.  It’s free and it really doesn’t take much time!  Now go do it!