It is 8:20 PM on Thursday May 17th, 2018.
Tomorrow I give my two week notice to my current employer. I’ve been in this position for six years and for the past three have been running on autopilot. I know my customers, I know how things work, I know all the ins and outs and can get things done. I didn’t expect to be changing jobs although I did take a peek once in a while. Looking at job postings is not very fun and so I didn’t do it very much. It is even less fun when you get calls from recruiters for positions which are terrible and pay less! So even though I took a look once in a great while nothing could beat the position I’m currently in.
That changed suddenly when this position became available. Suddenly the high bars I had set for even considering a new position were in reach. The offering is better, I still work from home, I’m in the same industry and I’ll be doing very close to what I do now, only for a different product in a different type of transportation. It is also something I’ve done before so know what to expect.
Therefore, this opportunity is one that I would regret letting pass me by and so even though I’m very comfortable in my current role I must take it. It will also be nice to shake things up in my life a bit because the years are passing by and life should be full of adventure, of challenge and trying new things. Otherwise, life is monotonous and becomes stale.
My giving notice will be a shock to many and like I said this change becomes more ‘real’ tomorrow. I’ll send an e-mail to my boss after which I’m sure I’ll get a call rather quickly. Then we’ll have a face to face, I’ll speak with HR, I’ll clean up my outstanding items, let my customers know and then turn in my car and computer. Then the new adventure begins.
So how do I feel? Well, surprisingly I don’t feel much at all. I’m not nervous, excited, anxious or anything along those lines. I’m just turning a page and that is that.
Life should be kept exciting and I’ve recently been thinking about the importance of living a magical life. Our lives are experienced through our mentality and at 40 years old life just doesn’t seem as ‘magical’ as it did when we were kids. We have to make a conscious effort with our minds to keep things exciting. For me, this involves reading books, learning more about history, studying my languages and trying new things. It has been a long time since I’ve looked out over the ocean and can see Spanish ships of old passing by through my minds eye from a historical perspective. It has been a long time since the vastness of the ocean inspired me to daydream, to think of faraway places and the endless possibilities if I were simply to imagine them.
I just read a short story from a great friend in Spain about the first king of the Kingdom of Asturias. Reading it awoke the passion I have for Spain, its history and the desire to learn more. From there I went over to Wikipedia and read more about Visigoths, the city of Toledo (where i studied) and about the different branches of Christianity that were reconciled at the Council of Nicaea. This is what I mean by keeping life interesting. There is so much to be learned, about history, space, time, life experience and so on. Yet we waste our time on social media, with junk news and with endless notifications beeping on our phones. We have to make a conscious effort to eliminate the noise and focus on things that interest us, that keep our own lives interesting.
Time is not slowing down. The example of this that always pops up in my mind is when I took my son to a Terra Nova football game and was watching the cheerleaders who were right in front of us. That was over five years ago and those senior cheerleaders graduated not only from high school but also now from college and have entered the workforce. If they are lucky and land a good job it is possible that I may encounter them in my own line of work, not as cheerleaders but as young professionals who have become real adults. This blows my mind when I think about how quickly time goes. As Ferris Bueller’s quote states, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”
So in taking this new job I am taking a moment to look around and it forces me to look around, to examine where I am in life and to take another step up. At 40 one has to be more cautious about such big moves and since I’m staying in the same industry I am being cautious but really shouldn’t let this opportunity pass me by.
The time is now 8:45 and being 40 years old the only thing I can think of right now is sleep. Before I go I should mention that I’ve rediscovered the joy of reading WordPress blogs. The vast majority are from young people talking about dating, about school and about all the drama that comes with it. At 40 and in my life things are settled, things are as they should be and there is no drama, there is little uncertainty but with it comes monotony. Time to shake things up a little because I’d like to look back on these very posts of mine and have them be worth reading.
But for now, it is time for bed.
