It’s been exactly four weeks since I left my job. After twelve years at the same company, the time came for me to move on. Part of me often fantasized about this moment, while the other part felt so settled, grateful and content with the status quo. But as we know, life happens and I am currently living a reality that only existed in my thoughts. So, what have I been doing since I officially handed back my work laptop? What’s been going through my mind? How am I feeling? What am I doing with my time? What is my next step?
Lately, I have been faced with a variety of questions by well-meaning friends, family and acquaintances. So in an attempt to answer these questions for myself, I’ve put my fingers to the keyboard to share my thoughts as part of my journey – hopefully to empower and inspire another mama going through this change, or dreaming of a career change themselves.
You would think that I would have taken at least one day to stay in pyjamas and lounge around in bed, with a tub of ice-cream and binge watch Netflix – right? Wrong. I actually haven’t stopped for a second. Between working on Momjo, ploughing through some personal admin and trying to catch up on some long-overdue QT with my kids, I find that the days are just as full. It’s been easy to fill my time with what I think are productive activities – I actually got into the kitchen mid-week last week, and cooked up a few of my favorite recipes, just because I could. I love to cook (and eat), so being in the kitchen cooking without rushing around like the Tazmanian devil, was a refreshing change.
Since I left my job, there have been moments where I found myself frozen, literally still. Thinking “what should I do right now?”. I felt like a little lost puppy, suffering a momentary confidence loss in what my purpose in that moment was meant to be. I quickly realized that this was a natural consequence of my new-found “freedom”, since for 12 years, my day job was always my go-to priority. I had become so conditioned to putting work first before everything else, that when that element of my routine was removed, the habit of a structured work day was hard break.
I threw myself into admin… tax returns, kids’ doctors appointments, filing of paperwork that had literally piled up into a mountain next to my desk – you get the picture!? I gave myself one week to get through all of it, but of course, admin is never-ending, so I accepted that fact, and delved into the second week allowing all the thoughts and feelings I was experiencing to just be.
One of my plans for the near future is to dedicate some time to my friends. You know – those friends that you want to see, you still care about – but the throws of mom life tend to stand in the way of regular contact and catch ups. The thought of coffee dates, followed by lunch dates to catch up with my girls is enticing and definitely on my to-do list…
So what’s next? The answer is: I don’t know. At times, I get overwhelmed with the seemingly endless possibilities, yet excited with the potential opportunities that the future holds. I plan to make the most of each and every day as I consciously want to leverage the gift of time I have been given to figure it all out. What do I want to be when I grow up? I also don’t know – but one thing I am sure of is that I am on my path to finding it.. precisely what the essence of finding your #momjo is all about.
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Read MoreTagged under: working mom,mom with a career,new career,career change,career choices
Category: mom-101
