This week marks a very interesting anniversary for me. It was a year ago this week that I spent my first days as someone gainfully unemployed. Yes, as amazing as it sounds it was a year ago last Friday that I said goodbye to the Sprint campus for the last time, gladly accepted my separation package and moved on with my life. Have to say it has been a rather amazing year.
I do miss being unemployed especially given that I was being paid to do so. One of the things that I’ve learned is that my body clock really doesn’t correspond well to that of a typical office environment and it was so incredibly nice to just wake up whenever I felt like it and stay up until I was too tired to do anything else. It was so nice to just make up my own schedule and live by it. That doesn’t even factor in the thrill of walking to a coffee shop in the middle of the day just because you have nothing else to do and have decided to go outside.
It is strange that I did not accomplish more while I wasn’t working but I had reasons. I did make progress on writing a novel (somewhere around 12,000 words written, some of which is actually worth keeping) but I fell off the pace as my life went into another direction. I also did not achieve my goal of watching every Star Wars film in order in one sitting or completing a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle single handedly. I still plan on doing both of those tasks even if neither of them are goals that you should admit to in polite company.
But even with that I still did exactly what I wanted to do with my time off. I needed to get away from everything for a while and just focus on myself. After years spent in cubicles it was nice to just have time on my hands. My life became much more interesting, I met more people and I began to realize just what I wanted out of life. Sure, work was nice but it was not what made me who I am.
I’ll also admit that I benefitted from some wonderful timing, personal flexibility and unbelievable luck. As opposed to a lot of the people who left Sprint with me I wasn’t tied to Kansas City. I could move wherever I wanted to (though I still don’t understand how with all of those options I ended up in Delaware). I also got out before the entire market collapsed and companies were still hiring. But luckiest of all I still kept my skill set in the energy business up to date and was able to go back to my old field being hired just as my severance ran out. You couldn’t time it better.
I love my new job but I do miss that ability to do whatever I want. I never had those years in your early twenties where you spend a year travelling the country finding yourself. I started working a month after I graduated (which I did in the four year minimum). I needed to go on a walkabout; a mental one at the least. I’m still trying to find that right balance where I can hit my career goals while staying true to myself and what I find important. Maybe that is the next big challenge of my life.
I really can’t believe that a year has gone by already. I had no idea that I would be here now but I know that if it wasn’t for what I accomplished in those few months I would not be at the point in my life that I am right now. And given that I have spent the past few months smiling every day thinking about just how lucky I am just shows that I made one of the best decisions of my life last year.
Wednesday Night Music Club: I’m going with a rather rare Damien Rice track tonight. Always worth a listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment