Will There Ever Be a Next Time for Me?

Does life give second chances?

How do we recognize a second chance?

Yes! Not just second but life gives us several opportunities- sometimes opportunities are hidden even in what we perceive as the most adverse of circumstances!

“Second chances do come your way. Like trains they arrive and depart regularly. Recognizing the ones that matter is the trick!”-Jill A Davis

it is for us to recognize these chances that life presents us….

Sheela was one such girl who realized her dreams when she got a second chance in life!

But did she get a second chance or did she create it?

Read on and decide for yourself!

Sheela was a happy-go-lucky girl. Born in the late 60s she lived a life that was close to nature and in the company of real people!

These were times without TV or electronic media! Times when the life of an average middle-class Indian girl revolved around school, family, and friends. Sheela had above average intelligence and was performing well in her academics.

She graduated with a degree in Engineering in 1990. As she completed her graduation, she was keen to pursue a career aligned with her degree. 

 Sheela found it difficult to land her first job. Fortunately, she was able to find employment as a lecturer in one of the top Engineering colleges in the city. 

She started working with excitement. Being a confident girl, taking on the role of a lecturer was not very difficult for her. However, as she continued with her job, she soon realized that this was not what she wanted and she started applying for jobs in the corporate sector. She began to work hard to compete in the tests to get placement in coveted organizations.

Her hard work bore fruits and she was soon an employee of one of the top organizations in the country. For Sheela, it was like a dream come true!

She worked in the organization for a few years before she got married. She had an arranged marriage, as is the practice followed in India. Indian girls of those times were taught to give up their careers for the sake of their marriage if required. However, she was fortunate that the organization she worked for had a branch in the city her husband stayed in. So, she continued to work and things were going well. She soon changed her job for a better position and package.

She was doing well in her career. She was content in every way. Then she had her first baby…..

When she held this little baby in her arms, she knew she could not leave him and go to work! Much as she wanted to continue with her job, the innocent eyes of her child did not let her go. 

She realized that her organization would find a replacement for her sooner or later, and thought but who would replace the mother for her baby?

Then it was easy to decide to stay at home and take care of the baby!

But the ambitious streak in her kept nagging her! This is when she decided to pursue a Masters degree in Marketing. She took admission in a college that offered correspondence courses. 

So, here she was taking care of her child while continuing with her studies, planning every day how she would complete her degree, and work in an office when her child would start schooling. But that was not to be….

Soon she had her second child. Now the thought of leaving both children at home under the care of someone else and working made her uncomfortable.

She continued with her studies thinking that probably she could take up a part-time job later.

But life had other things in store!

And, most unexpectedly her husband received a great job offer from one of the top organizations in Dubai. 

So, off the family went to Dubai! She could not complete her Masters.

After one year in Dubai, even her little daughter started schooling. Sheela thought to herself, “Finally my chance has come!”

She fervently started searching for jobs!

She was fortunate that despite a gap of 7 years in her career, she was able to get placed!

However, things were quite different from what she had dreamt of!

She had hired a nanny to take care of her children. However, being a stickler for perfection, she was always disgusted with whatever the nanny was doing with the children. 

Besides, things had changed drastically in the last 7 years in the corporate world. When she had quit her job, email was just making a foray in the corporate world. But this was 2003! Computers had become mainstream, everything was being done on computers. This was one of the biggest challenges for her. To add to her woes, she was completely out of touch with her field raising her level of difficulty at the workplace.

She could have attempted to learn these things if only she was peaceful from within. But that was not to be! Because when she came to the office, she left her heart and mind at home!

She realized that she was too restless to focus on her job. And, then again she quit her job. Fortunately for her money was not an issue as her husband had a great job with several perks.

This is the time she came to terms with the reality that she Cannot work! She realized that her career was over! She was remorseful initially! However, she accepted this reality and decided to channelize her time and energy on bringing up her children instead of moping about what was not to be!

Her children became the prime focus of her life. She became totally involved in her children. Living in Dubai she also had the good fortune to travel to several countries across the globe. Life was going on at a slow pace….

After about 11 years the family returned to India. Children soon joined university and went to stay in their respective hostels.

Well! Finally, the time had come! She could start her career!

But was it actually possible after a long gap of 20 years?

She wanted to but did not know what she could do! Her computer skills were close to zero. She contemplated taking admission for a computer course but was told by her husband that she would be better off picking up those skills on-the-job.

Ok, but what job could she look for was the biggest question mark?

She began skimming through the newspaper looking for vacancies!

And then one day she found a job listed in the corner which said,” Required a content writer with good written and spoken English.”

Okay! She had a good command over English, so she thought of exploring what the role of a content writer implied.

She called the Company and asked what exactly a content writer was supposed to do?

She was told that a content writer needs to research on different topics on the internet and present articles.

She thought this was something she could do! But then she was skeptical because of her lack of computer skills. She asked the recruiter about this. And, to her pleasant surprise, she was told that it did not matter!

She was overjoyed!

Although she did not pursue the vacancy in that particular organization, she now had a direction! She knew that the job of a content writer was something she could explore!

So she began to search for job titles “Content Writer” in the vicinity of her residence. To her pleasant surprise, there were plenty!

She then began to read articles on what the responsibilities of a content writer are?

And, she realized that a good typing speed was imperative!

Her exposure to digital media was limited to exchanging emails and looking at FaceBook, both of which she accomplished on her iPad. 

She did not even know which finger went on which key on the computer keyboard! Sheela felt that irrespective of whether any specialized skills were required for working as a content writer, basic typing skills were definitely required!

So if she wanted to work, she needed to develop typing skills!

Fortunately, there was a spare laptop available in her home! So she searched the internet for information on how to use the keyboard effectively(in other words which finger should be used on which key?)

Then every day she set aside some time to get used to working on the keyboard. Once she was comfortable, she started taking online speed tests for typing to enhance her speed. The process was slow, but she did not give up!

As she worked on her typing skills, she also began to look for content writing opportunities in different organizations. Fortunately for her, there was a myriad of small and big startups in her city so there were plenty of opportunities!

She applied for jobs in a few organizations. She was called for an interview but was unable to get placed for different reasons. While some companies tested her writing skills on a computer where she was still not good enough, others were skeptical about her age!

But Sheela did not get discouraged! She continued trying in different organizations while constantly improving her typing skills.

And, then it happened….

Sheela was interviewed in an IT company. Her interview went off quite well! 

But for the first time in her pursuit of a career, she wondered, “What am I doing?” “Am I doing the right thing?”All the people working here are youngsters, will I ever be able to gel with them?”

The Company told her that they would revert in a few days. But Sheela was full of self-doubt! She almost decided that she would not join even if she was selected.

She went home and she was surprised to see a message in her email inbox which said that she had been selected to work as a freelance writer by another organization.

This was something worth considering! She thought this was a good option because she would be able to work and could work at her own pace!

While she was thinking about confirming her availability to the freelance job, she received a call from the IT firm telling her that she was selected for the job!

She was thrilled to bits! 

She again thought whether she should accept it or not! 

Then she thought she would give herself a chance! 

She got the job but she was asked to join as a fresher with a meager salary! But money was not the driving force for her in any aspect of her life, so she accepted the offer.

This is how the second innings of her life started!

Getting back to work after 20 years was a daunting task!

Although she could manage typing, she sucked at all the other applications on the computer she was supposed to use as an employee!

She struggled every day, made mistakes, but she learnt from her mistakes and improved!

The greatest positive for her during this stage was that all her clients liked her work and the content department in her organization grew in terms of getting more projects. 

Although she had not kept herself updated with her subjects, her latent technical knowledge helped her to write technical articles with aplomb!

In the second innings of her life, she was updated with the trending technologies, trending arts, fashion, and many others! 

 Researching on new topics and writing on them made her knowledgeable in diverse fields which boosted her self esteem!

In a brief span of 2 months, she won the coveted “Employee of the Month!” trophy! 

This was just the beginning!

With time she began to love her work and became passionate about writing.

Within 6 months she was promoted as a Team Lead and a team of young writers began to grow under her leadership!

She taught professional writing to inexperienced writers and groomed experienced writers to enhance their skills.

She continued her career with more writers joining her team as work volumes grew with more and more clients choosing their Company for content writing!

This was a second chance that Sheela got in her life! This was precious because she discovered her passion, maybe a little late in life, but isn’t it passion that makes life meaningful!

She had rediscovered herself! It was a new beginning! 

The fact remains that if she had not given up her career when her children were small, she would probably holding a high position in an organization! Maybe she would be earning a handsome salary! 

But she would have missed the first steps of her babies, the first words of her children, for Sheela, nothing could have compensated these priceless moments of her life!

She led her life on her terms and according to her- She had her cake and ate it too!

In Sheela’s story, life did not just throw a chance at her instead, she worked hard and developed skills that were completely unknown to her! She created opportunities for herself by constantly learning and evolving!

Affirming the famous quote by George Bernard Shaw “Don’t wait for the right opportunity, create it!”-

This not only made her life interesting but also made her successful!

“Opportunity is everywhere. The key is to develop a vision to see it.”-Anonymous 

Second chances and opportunities are waiting for us at every stage in life! We only need to be alert to our surroundings and recognize chances when they come our way!

The onus is entirely on us to utilize second chances and become successful! This is possible only if we are open to learning and understanding! There are so many things around us that we know nothing about! All that we need to do is look around and learn from them. 

“We are given second chances every day of our life. We don’t usually take them, but they are there for the taking!”-Andrew M Greeley

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