Big news in my world: A month ago I was laid off from my job where I had worked for a little over 12 years. Now before you say “Oh no!”, you have to know that I see this as a positive change. I had in many ways been drifting in the tide of the company sea since I joined TMP in November of 2000 and it was a good ride. I had not had to spend too much time thinking about my own goals, I just followed one opportunity after another and often put the company goals before my own. Although I spent a lot of time dreaming, I did very little to act on those dreams.
I see this lay-off as a gift. I have been given the opportunity to shape the next chapter of my life – Although it is somewhat terrifying, it brings with it an incredible sense of freedom and I have decided that in order to explore other parts of my life that have been ignored for far too long, I am going to take significant time off from work before I get back into the thick of things ... call it a sabbatical of sorts.
I won't be idle though, there is so much to do! There are courses to take and road trips to go on and I intend to focus on running and development of my "inner self". Already in the past month, I have been kept busy dealing with "stuff" at home. I found myself purging during the last few weeks, everything in my closet had to be reorganized and in the process I have thrown out or donated at least a third of what was in there … I had been feeling overwhelmed by all of my belongings and have had a real urge to get “lighter”. I did not realize how long this process takes but I have made steady progress and best of all I am working at my own pace.
The most noticeable change I have observed since I stopped working is that I am slowing down and within this "slowing down", I have found that I am getting more patient. I feel with more patience one is also a lot kinder, when one is kind, kindness is often returned. I like this change. There is a lot of goodwill in this world when we take the time to observe it.
This amazing life journey so far has led me to where I am today and I recognize that to be living in San Francisco and to have the time to explore it and take advantage of what it offers is a blessing. I have no idea where this new path will lead me to and it is possible that I will land up back at the beginning, but for now I know that I owe it to myself to seek a more authentic life and this change is an opportunity to explore just that.
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.” ― Noam Chomsky
