Journey of a Thousand Miles
Molly Walsh stared at her still freckled face in the mirror. Today her life would change. She had a good job. Some told her, "Your work must be so satisfying, " but to her it was not. She got up at five in the morning, saw clients until 7 in the evening, and then went home to eat a cold supper, because she was too emotionally and physically exhausted from work to cook, and then she sat down until one or two in the morning trying to complete paper work, graphing, and compiling notes on each of the clients she had seen. She would get up the next morning to do it all over again. She had no life outside work, and she felt her work life had lost all satisfaction for her. She complained to friends and family how much she had started hating her job, because she had no life. She brushed her auburn hair and said, "I can't do this. I'm too old to start over," but she knew she couldn't turn back now. She hated change, and yet today would begin the biggest change she had ever made in her life. Her thoughts were interrupted by her ringing phone, it was Owen, her boss. She wanted to decline the call, but she picked up.
"Molly, is today still going to be your last day? You can change your mind, you know."
She hesitated, "uh, yes, it's my last, and I'm not going to turn in paperwork for it. I was up until three finishing the last of the clients I saw yesterday."
"You're always late with it, Molly."
"Well, you won't have to deal with that after today, Owen."
"The children will miss you, and surely you'll miss them?"
"Owen, don't bring children into this. This work is stressful and you know it. "
"You're the best therapist that I have, Molly."
"If we're being honest with each other, Owen, you've never treated me like that. When you look at the children you see how much they will make for the company. You don't see the child's needs at all. On top of that you always have your favorite therapists, and they're the ones that get the lighter caseloads. No, don't even bother denying it. "
"Molly, you don't want to burn bridges do you?"
"Is that a threat, Owen, because it certainly could sound like one, and it isn't endearing me to you or the company."
Owen hung up the phone. He was angry and she didn't care.
She ended the conversation, and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down to breakfast. She had no reason to rush today. She had purposely put her first client at nine. She had indeed loved being a behavioral therapist in the beginning, but after seven years it had become a treadmill that she couldn't get off of. The company scheduled more and more clients and demanded more and more notes.
She could always stay. Should she stay? What she was about to do scared her, yet she felt it was the right thing to do, but she also knew no one would understand, she barely understood herself. Everyday she complained to family and friends how much she had come to hate her job. She loved it once, but after seven years she had become tired. One day, she told her parents that she hated her life and her work. Her mother said, "Then find a different job." It wasn't that easy she had told her mom, but her mom said either cowboy up or find something else to do. She remembered telling her mom it wasn't easy finding work that paid that well. Then her mother rolled her eyes and said, "You shouldn't take any job based on money. Money's the wrong motivator. " That was all well and good if you had it, but if one was in debt then that was not a practical option.
Doubts clouded her thoughts. It's never too late to turn back. She could suck it up and do the job, or did she?
She loved it when a child learned to say Mom for the first time, and Mom and Dad cries, and gives her hugs. But there were other times when she had been bitten, stabbed, pushed on the ground, and had urine poured on her. That she would never miss.
Starting over had it's appeal a month ago, but now that the day had arrived, it didn't seem so adventurous. At seven tomorrow morning her family and friends would be there to move all her lovely furniture from her apartment that she absolutely loved to a storage facility, and then she would be back in her parents home, and the next day she'd be at First National Back as a teller. Her goal was to save all her money and in one year have all debts paid off, and a down payment ready for a business she had hoped to open. Her dream was to have a unique coffee shop/book shop combined. Jamie, her best friend said, "That's silly, Molly, it would never work, bookshops are dying. People download books they don't go into a store and buy them. You really belong in another era." Jamie, if nothing else, always said what she thought. Molly thought she could make it work, and she would prove it to everyone else.
"Molly, is today still going to be your last day? You can change your mind, you know."
She hesitated, "uh, yes, it's my last, and I'm not going to turn in paperwork for it. I was up until three finishing the last of the clients I saw yesterday."
"You're always late with it, Molly."
"Well, you won't have to deal with that after today, Owen."
"The children will miss you, and surely you'll miss them?"
"Owen, don't bring children into this. This work is stressful and you know it. "
"You're the best therapist that I have, Molly."
"If we're being honest with each other, Owen, you've never treated me like that. When you look at the children you see how much they will make for the company. You don't see the child's needs at all. On top of that you always have your favorite therapists, and they're the ones that get the lighter caseloads. No, don't even bother denying it. "
"Molly, you don't want to burn bridges do you?"
"Is that a threat, Owen, because it certainly could sound like one, and it isn't endearing me to you or the company."
Owen hung up the phone. He was angry and she didn't care.
She ended the conversation, and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down to breakfast. She had no reason to rush today. She had purposely put her first client at nine. She had indeed loved being a behavioral therapist in the beginning, but after seven years it had become a treadmill that she couldn't get off of. The company scheduled more and more clients and demanded more and more notes.
She could always stay. Should she stay? What she was about to do scared her, yet she felt it was the right thing to do, but she also knew no one would understand, she barely understood herself. Everyday she complained to family and friends how much she had come to hate her job. She loved it once, but after seven years she had become tired. One day, she told her parents that she hated her life and her work. Her mother said, "Then find a different job." It wasn't that easy she had told her mom, but her mom said either cowboy up or find something else to do. She remembered telling her mom it wasn't easy finding work that paid that well. Then her mother rolled her eyes and said, "You shouldn't take any job based on money. Money's the wrong motivator. " That was all well and good if you had it, but if one was in debt then that was not a practical option.
Doubts clouded her thoughts. It's never too late to turn back. She could suck it up and do the job, or did she?
She loved it when a child learned to say Mom for the first time, and Mom and Dad cries, and gives her hugs. But there were other times when she had been bitten, stabbed, pushed on the ground, and had urine poured on her. That she would never miss.
Starting over had it's appeal a month ago, but now that the day had arrived, it didn't seem so adventurous. At seven tomorrow morning her family and friends would be there to move all her lovely furniture from her apartment that she absolutely loved to a storage facility, and then she would be back in her parents home, and the next day she'd be at First National Back as a teller. Her goal was to save all her money and in one year have all debts paid off, and a down payment ready for a business she had hoped to open. Her dream was to have a unique coffee shop/book shop combined. Jamie, her best friend said, "That's silly, Molly, it would never work, bookshops are dying. People download books they don't go into a store and buy them. You really belong in another era." Jamie, if nothing else, always said what she thought. Molly thought she could make it work, and she would prove it to everyone else.
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