Backward is the new forward

“When we take one step toward to God, he takes seven steps toward us.” Indian Proverb

Last week, I took a pivotal and potentially perilous step back in my career. My career is intertwined so closely with my life, it’s often hard to tell the two apart. That happens when passion becomes calling and calling becomes business and business becomes career. This interconnectedness can be a pleasure or a pain, depending upon attitude.

Eight months is too much time to linger in the throes of unsteady work. Try as I might, I came up short each month as I tried to cobble together income from various freelance sources. After careful consideration, I decided to take a step back and revisit my former career as a booking agent and manager. Luckily, I landed a client quickly after working for him for several months as a publicist. 

I am so grateful for this turn of events. I love the band and I love the integrity and work ethic of their fearless leader.

This was all a matter of timing and God. As I continued to flounder in my new freelance career, I was, as always, taking steps toward God, asking for advice and guidance. And as I considered going backward as the new forward, I could feel God moving closer to me. As I continued to pray about what I should do, my past career kept knocking at my window pane.

 When a change in guard happened for my new client a couple of weeks ago, my mind had to turn backward in order to stabilize and move forward and be of service.

In a new world of lingering unemployment, perhaps it’s not so much of a detrimental idea to search for the new in the old. Sometimes stepping backward gives us the forward momentum we need to progress.