A few months ago, I was tired.

I was tired of working long hours for little recognition and even littler pay. I was tired of trying to ferret information I needed out of subject matter experts who were more From: http://home.aanet.com.au/hcrosby/Blog/frustrated.jpginterested in the latest office gossip than they were getting a job done well. I was tired of seeing people with less experience and talent get rewarded for work I had done. I was just tired of being tired.

Now that I’m not so tired, I can look back and clearly see that times like those are not good times to be making life changing decisions.

Tired Maggy thought it was time to step back a little, time to take a position that would be easy, time to move away from strategy sessions, company-changing decisions and endless headaches. Tired Maggy thought that a technical writing job would be easy and would allow her to rest and avoid headaches.

Tired Maggy had no idea how bored she’d be or how unfulfilled she’d be in a position like this.

Now that I can see through the eyes of one who is no longer tired, I’ve learned a big lesson about myself. Easy mode stresses me out. I need a challenge in order to be fulfilled. I need to be able to make a difference. I can’t just sit back on the sidelines and watch the action fly by without wanting to stick my foot in and trip things up a little.

Once I faced the facts, I realized that, while I am a writer who can author just about anything, the real me — the core me — is more of a communications strategist. From: http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/syscomorg/images/corpcomm.jpgCorporate communications can be daunting, but it is in that capacity that I’m most energized and fulfilled. I love how it feels when the cogs start turning, when I can look at the big picture and see the little things that can be tweaked to improve the business. I love being able to write a public relations piece that highlights the positives and minimizes the negatives. I love working out the particulars of crisis communication and then seeing the bad situation blow over as a result of my work. Most of all, I love that I am so good at knowing the right rhetorical stance to take on difficult communication.

So, as much as I like the people I work with, particularly my boss who is probably one of the smartest, nicest women I have known in the business world, I’m going to actively begin searching for another position in the field of corporate or public communications/public relations. Securing such a position would bring me back to the real me, and as the song goes, I gotta be me.

Just making this decision lifts a huge weight off my shoulders. I’m now on a personal communications mission, and the subject I’m highlighting is me! What better way to exercise my rhetorical wings and get them in shape again?

Wish me luck!