BUT no one claimed it would be easy.
It’s been a while since I’ve taken any time to put my thoughts down, so let me ramble a bit. It’s been a whirlwind of a year filled with more laughter, love, new friendship and adventure then I could have ever imagined. A year that has been filled with endless memories and new experiences and so much change!
Last February I walked away from a job I loved and a clinic full of coworkers, physicians and patients who made me laugh on the regular, who were my family, my friends and a huge part of my life. Walking away from a career that I was happy in and a place I was comfortable at was a bit terrifying and extremely exciting all coupled together with the biggest rush of nerves I have ever had. Change is exhilarating, challenging and exciting though and boy has this career change been a test of my patience and of my strength.
March 6th, 2017 a day I was in no way prepared for but a day that truly changed my entire life and brought me more friendship and joy then some may experience in their entire lives in just one day. My “Deltaversary” and for all things industry related the most important date in my career cause it’s where my seniority starts and every day counts for so many things in my world now, so it’s the date that makes or breaks anything I want to do. Walking into that auditorium that first morning at the Delta Headquarters in Atlanta, GA was surreal, it was a rush of a million emotions and the start of an intense 8 weeks of training, nerves, excitement, stress, unbreakable bonds, incredible friendships and the start to my career as a Delta Flight Attendant. The start of constantly being told by my family I speak a foreign language when I talk about my life and my job, the start of zero sleep, more fun on the daily then I knew was humanly possible and a world that could only be fully understood by others who work the same industry.
SOOO.. do I like my job? YES!
Do I love it? ABSOLUTELY!
Is it something I see long term for myself? OBVIOUSLY, I did just said I love it!
It’s cute when you’re young and single but what about the future? Well honey the future is now, and right now I couldn’t be happier in my life, in my CAREER and in everything I’m doing. This job is more than a job, it’s more because I make it more and because I simply LOVE it and honestly it doesn’t need further explanation. Sure it’s got it’s long days and it’s difficult ones and quite frankly it’s days when I just wanna make a bed in the lavatory, just kidding that’s NASTY, but definitely the days that I just wanna sleep sunrise to sundown and only get up for snacks. ANY JOB DOES. That’s because we are human and things aren’t always perfect, nor will they ever be. That’s the bliss in life anyways, imperfections give character and character is what makes us all unique and without a little struggle then what story would we have to tell? What would we have to be proud of and to show for? Being a flight attendant takes a lot more than what you’d think and sure we may live what some would say is a very glamorous life and have a job that some see as a temporary thing for someone young, single and reckless trying to figure things out. BUT I will have you know that for my particular year as a new hire with Delta that it was LESS THAN a .07% chance of getting through the application, interviews, tests and 8 weeks of training to have the honor to look at my colleagues and congratulate one another on those wings we earned and now wear very proudly. Also I’ll have you know the youngest person in my class turned 22 in training and the oldest was 52. All walks of life, all ages, races, religions, educational backgrounds, work histories and much more but boy does that make it fun!
This job is a privilege and an honor and brings me so much joy and happiness. For me it’s mostly butterflies and roses and the majority of my days are happy ones and luckily for me that comes fairly easy and naturally but it isn’t always that way. Having a job that is constantly on the go while being in different time zones and having wake up calls at bizarre hours while sleeping in strange hotels and places that certainly aren’t home can all be extremely tiring. You miss holidays, birthdays, parties, weddings, and countless events that you want so badly to be at because being “crew” means sacrificing more than you sometimes feel willing to and choosing to make the best of what you have day to day. Sometimes it means being rerouted when you were going home, or working 4 flights in one day when you were supposed to have only 1 but sometimes those little reroutes that seem miserable at the moment end up making for the best days or maybe they allow the best things to happen to you. On the flip side sometimes you end up working days that are often 14 plus hours and pushing through the exhaustion like a robot with a smile and the home sickness sets in. I’d say we sometimes sacrifice a lot to have this career but I’d do it again day in and day out as I’m sure most anyone that loved their job would say. Plus if you drew out a pro/con list I’d have endless pages to fill with pros and only a couple on the negative side.
If I’m being brutally honest my days are mostly filled with laughter, love, dancing, singing and friends. I party more than my mom would like, eat out more than I should, sleep way too late because I am always up too late, spend far too much time laughing at memes on my phone and doing I don’t even know what but I am happier than I ever could have asked for and live a life that so many only dream of. I am surrounded by amazing friends and family and spend my days in all kinds of different amazing places and am constantly meeting new people who often become new friends and provide me with new laughs and even more new places to visit.
So cheers to this past year, cheers to the year to follow and to every year after that! May they all be better than the last and may they all be filled with as much laughter as I need to get abs and smile lines. Really enough laughter to make my heart happy and keep my life full!
AND cheers to all those who came into my life this past year and became my friends and my family, all of you who made me fall in love with life all over again and who gave me the memories that will never fade, the hangovers which thankfully did, the new experiences and the friendships that I will cherish forever. Thanks for being who you are and accepting me for who I am. As always cheers to my family and to my friends that are family too that don’t necessarily accept me but let’s say “put up with me” because let’s face it they’d rather do that then not have me around. Just kidding guys, LOVE YOU to the moon and back and back again times infinity and appreciate you even more this year than ever before. Little distance makes the heart grow fonder right? Good thing I visit often, wouldn’t want to get too mooshy gushy! For real though a solid support system is a definite requirement for this job so I appreciate mine, the old ones and the new additions too. Love you guys!
Ohhh and incase you missed it or didn’t realize that this career change was also a cross country move for me I made Boston my home back in May and couldn’t be happier with my base, my city, my place and most of all my roomies. If anyone out there wants to come fly with me I would be happy to answer any of the million questions you may have about the flight attendant life, just ask away darlings!
XOXO,
Lacy
P.S. Hope your day is wicked awesome!
Sunset Chaser 