I've been honored with some really great new friends on Facebook. By new I mean about three years. As is usually the case with Facebook, we haven't met face-to-face yet, but not only do we communicate through FB, but we sometimes even talk on the phone. When I first met these people, I wasn't even considering becoming a Travel Agent, but when I did make the decision, they gave me wonderful support and encouragement, which went a long way towards making me feel really good about my decision.
As is sometimes the case when starting a new endeavor, life happened. After a great start of 2014 with two simply amazing cruises on Norwegian Cruise Line, my husband hurt himself very badly and his pre-existing conditions worsened the problem. Basically everything after our April cruise aboard Epic, our lives kinda fell apart. He was home recuperating from surgery and obviously, my focus was on everything BUT my business and continuing education.
When he returned to work and I tried to motivate myself again, but was finding it extremely difficult. My interest was still there, I just was lacking the excitement I had previously enjoyed.
I had known for some time about the CruiseWorld 2014 event and thought it would be a great boost for me. Not only would I have an opportunity to jump-start my education again, but the idea of getting away and rejuvenating myself and my business was just irresistible. I tried to get hosted since my husband's medical issues left us without any real expendable cash for such an out-of-pocket expense, but was declined. However, after serious discussion and soul-searching, my husband and I agreed I needed to go.
That decision was one of the best I'd ever made. The education and contacts I'd made were incredible and I returned home refreshed and ready to really get going.
One of the things that I discovered within myself was that I personally needed a very structured way to learn about the business, and I decided that it would be in my best interest to change host agencies to gain that structure. After researching thoroughly, I made my choice and then had the agonizing task of resigning from my prior agency. That was really hard for me since I had gotten so much encouragement from my host, with very little return on his part and felt -- feel -- a real appreciation to him. He completely understood my point of view though and encouraged me, yet again, to do what was right for me and wished me well.
Anyway, like I said earlier, about a month and a half had passed. When I first made the change, I was still in a kind of stupor. The struggles of the past year had weighed heavily on me. But as I also said earlier, my Facebook friends were there for me through it all.
About a year ago, one of those friends, Penny, told me she wanted to book a cruise for 2016. Itineraries for this specific location weren't out yet and we both knew it was going to be a waiting game. Obviously since we're friends, we'd been in contact quite a bit through all my upheavals, but rarely discussed her cruise. Well, with the use of the tools available to me through my new host agency, I checked into it again yesterday and sure enough, they showed itineraries through April 2016. I promptly called her.
We cheerfully discussed the itineraries available and all that stuff, but most importantly, I wanted her to know that I hadn't forgotten about her trip. She said she knew that and then she said something that actually brought tears of joy to my eyes...
She said I sounded happy. I hadn't really thought about it before, but to hear someone say it to me brought it home to me. I AM happy. Happier than I've been for a very long time.