Where does the time go? Behind us or in front, it all depends on which way we are looking ~ Poledra [David Eddings, Polgara the Sorceress]
This morning I stood and had my picture taken with the Captain in recognition of five years of loyal service to the cruise line that I seem to have fallen into a career with.
Five years. How did it get to be five years?
Five years that have almost exclusively been on one ship.
Granted, five years is a drop in the ocean compared to the rest of the staff of the flagship, most of whom are edging closer to the 20 or 30 year mark. I felt less like a graduate student and more like a toddler shuffling her way from kindergarten to first grade; a big step yes, but hardly as significant as the “big people”.
I’m actually rather stunned that I have lasted this long. I’m also stunned by how much the job has given me, and how much it has changed me. A very dear friend of mine said once that ships changed me into the person that she had once hoped I would have the courage to become (Silv probably doesn’t remember saying that, but she did…or at least she said something similar). Prior to this the only thing I had remained committed to for more than a year was performing, and despite my love for it, even my commitment to that was not what I wish it had been.
I remain continually shocked by the directions that life can take me. Had you told me five years ago – when I was scrimping every dollar from a minimum wage paycheque – that I would have risen to where I am now, or that I would have accomplished so much…I would have laughed you off, or worse, I would have looked at you and said “yeah…wouldn’t that be nice.”
Five years…
‘Tis true…time…does fly…