I had been with my company for 13 years when I left. I worked my way up from a part-time position as a service representative manning a register and cleaning up to my final position as a District Trainer. I took the position while I searched for a real job after leaving the military, turns out it was an excellent fit for me. I truly enjoyed most of that time with them. It was home and filled with great friends, coworkers and customers.
Then came the soul crushing part. Change in any business is of course inevitable, necessary and in the end usually good. In my opinion, the changes made in the last three years of my tenure were horrific. I was miserable, my work suffered and in the end, I left. I had no new position lined up, no idea what I was going to do, other than take some time for myself and reevaluate my own life. My wife and I discussed it, and we decided that I would take the summer school break to figure out what to do next. I spent the entire summer with my kids, at the beach, the ballpark and anywhere else we wanted to go. It was the very best time I ever had. Most of us never get the opportunity to do that when our kids are young, we are busy working, if you get the chance take it. Summer ended though my kids returned to school, and it was time for me to go back to work.
I had done more than play in the sun over the summer. I polished up my resume and did some research into companies, so I could start somewhere new. I received offers, some interesting some not. What I didn’t find was anything I wanted to actually do. Over the summer, I also started writing again. Poems, short stories and even did work on a novel I had been playing around with for ten years. I began writing more, researching into how to publish articles and find work as a writer. I made progress sold some articles did some freelance work and was fairly happy. At this same time, a former employee of mine from ten years prior was looking into incorporating his own business. We had kept in touch off and on over the years, and he asked if I would like to grab some coffee one day. We met, and he pitched me his idea for the company and asked if I wanted to be his partner. After some thought I agreed.
Now I get to write both for myself and my business. I have the pleasure of working with good people and customers again. Best of all I have more time to spend with my children. Change in any life is of course inevitable, necessary and in the end usually good. In my case, it was fantastic.