Now what? You have finally achieved what you have been hoping for and, all of a sudden, you find yourself wondering if it was worth the sacrifices. If it is worth the time, the energy, the effort! Yes, you will get to that point. It is the natural, progression of our human nature. Wanting what we want until we get it.
Being a Christian woman, I know that God does not make mistakes. I know that He put me here for a reason! My initial reason for wanting to do this, obviously, was selfish. I wanted Weltson. For those of you who don't know about Weltson, you can find out about him in earlier posts. But, seeing as I think he is so photogenic, here he is (we are):
Let me tell you, selfish reason(s) WILL NOT keep you going. This operating your own business (any business) is HARD work. Time consuming work. Stressful work. This is YOUR responsibility and your responsibility alone. You are solely responsible for everything having to do with it. And, again, I cannot stress this enough, selfish reasons will not keep you going. Oh, and did I make my point, YOUR responsibility. If things are good, you get the credit. If things are bad, you get the blame. Are you prepared for that? Is what you want worth that? Doesn't matter if you are having a good day or a bad day. If you are not feeling well, the customer must be taken care of. The business must be tended to.
My answer? No, selfish reasons alone, Weltson alone, is NOT what keeps me going. However, God has kept me going. Let me tell you, there have been many days that I did not want to go and clean someone else's house. I did not want to deal with changing bed linens, scuff marks on doors, dusty baseboards, dirty toilets!
First, He has given me a sense of responsibility I have never known before. Sure, taking care of my family is a huge responsibility. But, if I don't clean the bathroom today, it will be there tomorrow. If a week comes and goes and I didn't change the sheets, they are not going to fire me for not doing my job. If there are dirty dishes in the sink, someone else will put them in the dishwasher (well, most of the time anyway!). What I am trying to say here is that family allows for the days when you just don't want to. When dealing with a customer, a client that is paying you for a service or product, there is no buffer. They want what they want when they want it.
Therefore, I thank God for instilling in me responsibility for others. For giving me the strength I need each and every day to do what is right by those to whom I have made a commitment.
Independence. Being a business owner has allowed me to make my own choices and decisions, without having to get someone else's permission. Let me say this... SCARY! But, oh so invigorating as well! It allows me to be an individual in my own right. Not just the wife, mother or daughter of so and so.
For this, I thank God for getting me out of my comfort zone and allowing me (with His guidance) to find my own way. Strengthening my self-confidence.
Respect. Wow! I have, probably for the very first time, truly earned the respect of so many people. For me, most importantly, I have earned the respect of my husband and children. When I began this endeavor, none of them believed I could or would succeed. Goodness, they didn't even believe I would actually get started. Let alone become successful enough to quit my "regular" job or to be able to purchase and support Weltson!
For this? For this I thank and praise God for blessing me so abundantly. For filling me with a sense of self-worth I have never ever known before. For giving me the strength I needed to get out of bed when my body aches and my back or hips refuse to cooperate. For His giving me the will to keep going when all I wanted to do was quit.
Awakening to the fact that even though all I may be doing is "cleaning houses" - it is a task that I know truly helps others.
I talked about support of family and friends in an earlier post. Believe it or not, some people I've shared with (whose support I hoped to have) pointed out to me that house cleaning is a "lowly" endeavor. One that they were surprised I would undertake for fear of "others finding it demeaning." Which, of course, convinced me that THEY were the ones to actually believe it so.
For this, I thank God for giving me the courage to follow through with HIS plan. For not leaning on my own understanding but for having the faith to believe in Him.
For this, all of this, I am so very thankful!
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