The End of an Incredible Job

At the end of  June 2011, I left a full time position in an NGO as the Head of Home and Welfare. I was there for eight months. Frankly, I am surprised I had lasted that long... At the end of the second week, I was getting what felt like heart palpitations! And one day after about two week of working there as I got out of my chair, I noticed that there was a whole lot of hair on the floor!!! It was no wonder as this job which I had taken on was very challenging and stressful.

I was in charge of 70 underprivileged children. Many of them were from single parent families and who cannot provide for them financially and in many cases, emotionally.

I had never taken on such a position before and took it on for the experience of it... And decided to say "yes" instead of chickening out of the grand scale of responsibilities which came with the job.

This was also the first time that I had taken on an administrative position. I was in charge of about 18 staff and 70 children. Everything which had to do with the children, had to go through me for approval or decisions.

 I truly appreciate the opportunity to have had experienced  being in this position. It had expanded me  mentally, emotionally and spiritually in ways which I have never expected and it had allowed me to explore the depths of my capability of handling crisis almost everyday and sometimes a few times a day! It taught me to maintain healthy detachments and yet take appropriate action  when necessary.
Most importantly, it had I felt my heart expand...I felt love for all those children and compassion and understanding for the staff. I guess it is a given when one works with children... It is hard not to love them....
It thought me how to  stay calm in the eye of the storm. What an an amazing journey it had been!!! As you may guess, it was hard to say goodbye to the children but it was time for me to move on.. My gift to them on my last day is an Odissi  dance performance.