Day #89 - 1/11/98 - 7:00AM

Today, I thought I'd share an email I received:

Subject: Diary

Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998

Corey,

I was catching up on reading your diary which I could not do during the holidays because my kids had both computers tied up for two weeks straight. The company I work for was recently bought out by another company just like the radio station you used to work for. This was not a bad deal because they are investing a lot of money with with us and improving the facility and equipment. They have completely replaced the top management which screwed up the entire company several years ago and are reshaping the company's internal structure, manufacturing processes, and entire outlook. All of this is for the better. There were several small changes that directly affected the department I work in. All of these changes were done without talking to the people that they directly affected. These changes, along with all that I had taken away from me over the past 6 years, Supervisor position, $6000 a year pay decrease, year end bonus, and cuts in medical benefits to name a few, left me in a position where I was looking to leave the company after 14 years of service. I am a very respected person in my line of work, not only by the people I directly work with but by our distributors all around the United States and the World. This had me stessed out so badly before the holidays that I lost lost sixteen pounds the two weeks preceding Christmas. The message that you posted from one of your readers and the comment you made at the bottom of the page (of Day 80) really hit home. Here is the message that you had on your page:

"Never give up on what you love. What you love may not reciprocate all the time. It may hurt you. It may discard you. It may ignore you. But, when that which you love, loves you back..... the reason is clear why you go on, day-after-day."

That message hit me right straight between the eyes like a brick. I love what I do, and I love the people I work with, and I don't want to leave my job. Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to see, and it takes someone else to point them out to us. No one is sure what the future holds but for right now a giant load has been taken off of my shoulder. I wanted to thank you for keeping up with your diary. I am not sure how many people been inspired by your diary and have responded to you but I am sure there are many who been touched and have kept it to themselves. I had to let you know how much that message meant to me. It may have saved me from doing something I may have regretted for the rest of my life. Thank You for letting this difficult part of your life be an inspiration to others and pointing out the simple item that I was blind to.

Hang in there, everything seems to work out fine in the end.

(Name withheld)