After my last post, a good friend suggested I write about what I miss about jobbing (a term my daughter-in-law uses). Great idea. Along with that, what I don’t miss, in an attempt to move forward in my life.
Let’s get the negatives out of the way, shall we?
What I don’t miss about punching a time clock:
Office drama.
Dark morning drives.
Long periods of sitting.
Being tired all the time.
Not enough time for my dogs.
Having to learn new technology.
Always carefully planning vacation time.
Uncomfortable shoes, or wearing shoes at all.
The freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want.
The oft feeling that I’d rather be doing something else.
Never having enough time to do chores around the house.
Too tired to read. Too tired to cook a good meal. Too tired to be creative.
What I Miss About Work:
The joy of working with the public.
The automaticity of a schedule.
Being a member of a team.
Learning new things.
A sense of purpose.
Helping people.
Feeling useful.
Being a mentor.
Work friends.
Paycheck.
I started writing this post on Monday, and here I am Thursday afternoon Friday morn cleaning up the draft. Busy week. Nothing out of the ordinary but I’ve had something on my calendar every single day. I am volunteering as a driver for a great local non-profit. I still have to shop for groceries. Cooking, cleaning, picking up dog poop. Laundry. Phone calls. Dentist appointment. Pay bills. Dinner with friends. All the things I squeezed in while working. And, the days still fly by.
Turns out I still can miss those things I loved about working but the truth is that I have enough on my plate right now. Emotionally, it is a matter of shifting gears, slowing my roll, and letting the chatter in my head dissipate. Last night at dinner, my cousin’s husband said he wakes up sometimes in a panic with all the new arrests he’s made and how he’s going to manage completing all the probable cause statements. He’s been a retired sheriff for 13 years! I think I’ll take that as a lesson.
There are many things to look forward to. I have a new grand baby in another state who I will be seeing on frequent visits there. We’re planning a trip to Oregon this summer, hoping to stay just long enough not to wear out our welcome. There are books to read, posts to write, pictures to take, and people who need rides to the doctor office several times a week. Not to mention all the series on Netflix and Hulu that I’ve been wanting to see. I want to get back to making my own greeting cards, writing, and I’ve always wanted to try my hand at drawing. There are YouTubes that will show me how.
This is not to say I won’t ever go back to work, but I need to put that idea on hold so I can be less tired, finish tasks, walk around my property when my legs get restless, go barefoot all day, choose to only drive in the daylight, take time to learn something new, and enjoy my life minus the time clock.
UP NEXT: my adventures in volunteering!
Love, susan
No comments:
Post a Comment