As excited as I may be that I’m launching this page today; I am saddened that the execution of this post may be the most adventurous thing on the menu! It is true that on prior snowy days, I have donned my snowshoes, and trekked out to run the dogs, or at the least, ventured to the mailbox. Alas, not this day. As it sometimes happens, I am loathe to embrace the cold. So here I sit just typing away, and debating on whether or not to add another sweater to this, not so trendy, layered look I’m sporting. Its actually been one of those dreary kind of day that even a cup of coffee can’t brighten up.

I am between jobs, and grateful that, although not part of my “master-plan,” this hiatus is providing me with some much-needed time away from a workplace. You see, I am a confirmed workaholic, and the last time I took more than five consecutive days off, was after my Mother’s passing more than a decade ago. I’m a baby boomer, so although many of my peers are beginning their retirements; I am faced with the reality of that “officially” unmentionable perception that I may be “too old to work.”

Unofficially, I am secretly at peace after leaving my last job. I’m not one to leave without another job in the wings but frankly; the job had become a nightmare. I don’t miss those shift that had become ten hours of hell sandwiched between hour-long commutes. Now, I have the opportunity to really evaluate what I want to do next, and I’m hoping that I can find something that will bring me personal as well as professional satisfaction. I’m hoping to find something that allows me to climb into the realm of self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, if you will).

In the meantime, I have taken a long overdue trip to visit my father and my step-mother, printed and framed a whole bunch of pictures of family and friends to display in our “under-renovation” basement, and begun to tackle some other projects here at home that require both my partner and me, to complete. The weather has been more wintery than in recent years, and I have been grateful each day that I haven’t been compelled to shiver my way to and from work in ice, snow, and sub-zero temperatures.

I keep applying for work for a few hours each day, and am keeping an open mind about what future prospects might include. It is not lost on me, that the reason I was leaving a previous job, was because I really wanted to shorten my drive-time, and win back some work-life balance. Instead, I wound up taking a job that I thought would be really cool, even though it didn’t really save me much of a commute. That bad decision was pivotal to my immersion into a no-win situation at home and at work. Hindsight is 20/20, and I sure hope I reflect on that the next time I consider compromising on an important goal!

Well, I feel a little better now. Maybe someone, someday, will read this and it will resonate with an experience in their own life. We are never really alone when it comes to reaping the “rewards” of poor choices.