I can't tell you how many times I've been to "the wire" as I call it. I call it that because it feels like I'm walking a tightrope at times when it comes to being able to make my bills. It's not that way right now, but in the past, I have really had to deal with issues and decisions about whether I would pay this bill or that bill. I usually paid the one that had the cut-off notice! To be honest with you, sometimes it was simply a matter of rolling the dice and hoping nothing bad happened. Then again, if I had actually been a professional gambler maybe I would never have been in those situations? We'll never know.
If you follow me, or if you're new to my blog, you'll need to know that I was only about five and a half years old when I decided to become a Christian. It was a big-person thing, I knew that but I also knew that I could die and if I did die I wanted to go to Heaven. Now, we all know, or should know, that all children who are under the age of actual accountability, when they know true right from wrong, and can determine for themselves the real consequences, all go to heaven. Every last one of them. At five and a half, I had been in and out of the hospital a few times with lung issues and I knew I could die. I asked Jesus to be there and to hold me and to keep me. I told Him if I did die I wanted to go to Heaven and I believe He accepted my plea. I believe I was fully saved at that age, but when I did become older, more mature you know, around the age of 12, I asked Him to do it again -- just to be safe! (You can't see me laughing, but I am)
Well, today was a very special day for me. I have, over the past several years really, been through job after job, not career path after career path, but just job after job waiting and hoping to find a true career path. I've sold insurance, been an investigator, worked claims, and been a consultant, but all the while I've not been hired full-time and permanently by someone who would support me in the career I wanted which was Securities. I've wanted to be in trading for over 30 years, but the timing was just not there. I couldn't break from the kids to learn, I wouldn't expect at that time, for a company to train me and not expect me to stay later or work early. I just couldn't do it. Then I got stuck behind the 8-ball as it were, and really couldn't get out from under my other financial obligations. It looked as if being a trader in the Securities industry was just a pipe-dream.
I began praying about it and asking God if He wanted me in the industry. It's a hard thing to break into, and more men are traders than women by a long shot! I have a really strong personality, I'm also quite confident and educated, and I am really disciplined. I believe I could be a great trader. I also know that I would have to work my way into it, so I began studying the steps and planning the method it would take to make the pipe dream a reality. It needed to be a step-by-step process if it was going to happen. These things do not happen overnight. I don't care what Hollywood tries to tell us, we can't simply start out on the trading floor without first knowing so so very much. I started the process of learning the basics about two years ago.
Over time I studied and passed the SIE (Securities Industry Essentials) exam for FINRA. FINRA is the governing agency that is fully in charge of all things Securities in the United States. It's not easy to get on with them in the first place. I couldn't even qualify to take the SIE for years due to a personal setback that led to bankruptcy in 2005. YEARS would have to pass before I could apply again just to take the SIE exam. I was accepted. I studied, I took the test, and I failed. I tested again, and I passed. The SIE exam is not, I repeat NOT, an easy thing to pass. I think it took right at 8 months of self-study on that exam alone.
Because you don't need a sponsor to take either the SIE and/or the Series 66 exam, I have attempted both. I have failed both. I failed the Series 66 last spring literally by one question! I would rather have bombed the test than to only miss by one, but it is what it is, and I'll study and take it again soon. I hope the Series 7 is easier. I really do. You do have to be sponsored by an agency or company to take the Series 7. I don't agree with that, but it is the way that it is, and luckily (or Jesus) I am going to be doing that very very soon. YEA!
The reason today is so really cool and wonderful is, that I was finally (after YEARS) hired by a professional trading firm and I will be sponsored and even trained to be a trader down the road. I'm going to purposely wait and work my way slowly to the position so I am best trained and given the best opportunities to do the right thing(s) and make the right choices for my clients and for myself. I'll trade on my own, not an issue, but I don't and won't spend someone else's money unless and until I know I am making the correct decision every time. It really does matter to me. Like I said, I can trade my own, but I'm even taking my time on that. I trade on a demo account still because I don't want to pull the trigger on the real (live) trades just yet. There's an enormous amount of information to learn.
I've been financially OK for the past several years, but while I was raising kids and needed money I just never seemed to have any. I don't understand how that works. I will tell you this, I absolutely got closer to God during those times. I mean to tell you, He was on my breath all the time and constantly! Thank Him, I do. Thank Jesus all day long, and into the night, falling asleep praising Him. I made it through some tremendously rough years of literally just barely skating by, and at times, I didn't even do that. I managed by Grace, His Grace. Today, I was offered the job I think and hope will be my last. I want it to be. I want to stay there for the rest of my natural life or until retirement - - and if God wants to use the Rapture as a retirement plan for me, well, I will not complain.
Finally, I am employed (starting Monday) with a company I can trust to work with me, train me, and keep me busy!! TRADING is something I just LOVE doing and think about it all the time. I love learning about, thinking about doing it, doing it, playing with the numbers, and waiting on the right moment to make an entry. It's just so unpredictable, volatile, and spasmatic at times, but at other times it is as smooth as glass - and you never know what to expect. I love it. Very soon I'll leave the paper or demo account I have and push the go button on my own money. I'll have a better understanding at that point of what it means to really take care of my clients, and their needs, and what it means to be responsible for my every decision. This is something I look forward to, and am thankful for the interest.
Photo Credit: Urban Stock Market
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