14. The Sweet Taste of Success

I won! After all the writing, editing, calculating, stress, frustration, running around, pleading and utter hopelessness, I submitted my very first proposal 5 minutes before the deadline with a sinking feeling that there was no way, the client would accept a proposal that was more expensive and had a longer proposed timeline than the competition. What's worse, is that I couldn't even get a guarantee from my staff that the deadlines on this timeline would be met, that the numbers were accurate, or that they would actually care enough to complete the tasks. I went home upset, hurt, frustrated and feeling defeated. I know that this is a small project but it's my first project and I didn't want to accept defeat because people are just plain lazy and irresponsible. I went to bed and woke up in the morning. I was slow to get ready and didn't feel excited about going in to work. But as I got to my desk and opened my email, the first words I saw were "Dear Nilufar, We have decided to accept your proposal....." I didn't read the rest of the conditions, because they could be dealt with later. So I did it. I was later informed by the client that they were impressed with the level professionalism in my proposal and were able to overlook the budget and time issues. I know this project will be tough because I can already see all the problems I'll have to deal with working with a staff that doesn't understand deadlines or have a sense of commitment but right now, I don't want to think about all that. I just want to enjoy this moment.

Celebrating with my favorite person in Kabul, Trudi!