I am going through a big change now in my life, at the age of 42. After so many years of dreaming a life like this, I have finally and providentially, taken the step to do it.
I have always wanted to do freelance work in which I can make use of my skills and earn a decent living. And have time to serve God, more time to spend with my family and to reach out to others.
Through a relapse of severe depression in July last year in which my employer decided to scale down her businesses, I was led to leave my job of 4 years and to look for a new one. Bipolar, depression and other mental health disorders are very much a stigma in Singapore. I have difficulty finding a fulltime job. I did temp job for a short while, my depression worsened and then I took time off to recuperate.
It was during this time of break that I was able to learn to understand my condition better and how best to manage it so that I can be more functional. I began to enjoy brisk walk, photography, catching up with friends and making bookmarks and other crafts.
When I was ready to return to work in February 2008 this year, God provided me with a part-time job. It was short term but this part-time job provided me with freelance opportunities with them. I am thankful to God that through this freelance assignment plus helping my friends, I am able to earn some income to support myself and my mother. Freelancing do have its own stress in terms of instable income and tight project deadlines, and I do have so much more to learn on this and much patience to wait for progress. But I am grateful, very grateful as I can learn to manage my condition better this way when I can work at my own pace and take breaks as and when necessary.
I am so happy to use my skills in typing to do my freelance typing and transcribing work. And also to use my skills in making bookmarks and other crafts together with photography, to give to my friends, and maybe one day to sell these items too. I enjoyed these very much.
And by doing freelance work, I have been able to continue to serve God through some small work for my church as well as writing and visiting some church members. I have been able to take better care of my mother and spend more time with her as I usually works from home.
I am also grateful to God that I can continue to share God's goodness and mercies to me on this blog as it is therapeutic to me. And it is so wonderful to know so many friends through our blogs. Several kind people also wrote to me and now I have a handful of penpals from several parts of the world!
All these are so wonderful and amazing. I never thought my dreams can come true! Thank and praise God.
