Moving on
It's official. After 16.5 years at my job, I have moved on to another position. Same basic job but with another agent at a local company. It's a little odd at this point in my life, when many people are beginning to retire, to be taking a full time job, but as many of my friends and family will attest, it was past time that I made this change. Still, there was a part of me that was feeling a little odd, a little off kilter, a little lost.
I have been working in the real estate industry for 26 years and I must love it to still be here. Clearly I do the job well or again, I wouldn't still be here. But I have to admit that over the past 4 or 5 years, I have liked it less and less. Yet I still continued with my job. Whining as little as I could (sometimes with limited success) I swallowed a lot of irritation and more than a little of my pride, because the job still offered me more advantages than disadvantages. The military has a saying, Embrace the Suck. No, I am not comparing my job to that of being in the military by any stretch of the imagination, but I fully appreciate the feeling behind it because sometimes you just have to suck it up. It was good money and good hours and best of all, I got to work from home. But eventually even the best of jobs can grow to be less than fulfilling and you reach a point where you have to admit that things will not get better. In fact they may get worse. Sometimes you have to face the fact that you can no longer suck it up and carry on.
16 years is a long time to work at one job for one boss. Along with the knowledge that I needed to move on, there was a bit of reluctance to let go, a little nostalgia for the years I put in, and more than a little anger that I had to leave. This was where I worked from my 40s thru to my 60s. My son was a teenager when I started, my daughter in her early 20s. This was the job that I was going to have until I retired, the one that would see me set up financially for my twilight years (don't you just love the imagery of twilight years?). This was the job I mastered and could practically do in my sleep. That it somehow all went to hell in a handbasket is still something I struggle to come to grips with. Along with the reluctance to move on was an odd fear that I would not fit in at a new place. Maybe I should stay and embrace some more of the suck.
But all that is in the past now. I just finished my 4th week as a full time assistant in a brick and mortar office, with a terrific agent, some great old friends, and some terrific new ones. I realized the very first week just howlazy complacent I had become. Since I didn't have to work until 1pm, there was plenty of time to do other things in the morning. Not especially productive things, but still. I could sleep in until late morning or sit around in my pajamas until noon if I wanted. I could work in my sweats with no makeup and without showering. The fact that I never wanted to do any of those things is completely beside the point. It was still a tantalizing possibility. Now, I have joined the get to bed by 10pm because I have to be at work by 8:30 crowd. The pack a healthy lunch crowd. The run errands on the weekend crowd. The it's 3pm where is the chocolate crowd. The oh my gosh I forgot to do laundry and have nothing to wear crowd.
Truth be told, I love it! It's a good fit, this job I have. No, it's not perfect but I love just about every inch of it. Maybe I should have made a move years ago, but for whatever reasons I was not ready. It seems serendipitous that now, when I was ready for a change, the change was also ready for me.
So, the takeaway? Trust yourself, trust your skills, your knowledge, your abilities. And if you are so inclined, reach out and embrace new things. They might just embrace you back.
I have been working in the real estate industry for 26 years and I must love it to still be here. Clearly I do the job well or again, I wouldn't still be here. But I have to admit that over the past 4 or 5 years, I have liked it less and less. Yet I still continued with my job. Whining as little as I could (sometimes with limited success) I swallowed a lot of irritation and more than a little of my pride, because the job still offered me more advantages than disadvantages. The military has a saying, Embrace the Suck. No, I am not comparing my job to that of being in the military by any stretch of the imagination, but I fully appreciate the feeling behind it because sometimes you just have to suck it up. It was good money and good hours and best of all, I got to work from home. But eventually even the best of jobs can grow to be less than fulfilling and you reach a point where you have to admit that things will not get better. In fact they may get worse. Sometimes you have to face the fact that you can no longer suck it up and carry on.
16 years is a long time to work at one job for one boss. Along with the knowledge that I needed to move on, there was a bit of reluctance to let go, a little nostalgia for the years I put in, and more than a little anger that I had to leave. This was where I worked from my 40s thru to my 60s. My son was a teenager when I started, my daughter in her early 20s. This was the job that I was going to have until I retired, the one that would see me set up financially for my twilight years (don't you just love the imagery of twilight years?). This was the job I mastered and could practically do in my sleep. That it somehow all went to hell in a handbasket is still something I struggle to come to grips with. Along with the reluctance to move on was an odd fear that I would not fit in at a new place. Maybe I should stay and embrace some more of the suck.
But all that is in the past now. I just finished my 4th week as a full time assistant in a brick and mortar office, with a terrific agent, some great old friends, and some terrific new ones. I realized the very first week just how
Truth be told, I love it! It's a good fit, this job I have. No, it's not perfect but I love just about every inch of it. Maybe I should have made a move years ago, but for whatever reasons I was not ready. It seems serendipitous that now, when I was ready for a change, the change was also ready for me.
So, the takeaway? Trust yourself, trust your skills, your knowledge, your abilities. And if you are so inclined, reach out and embrace new things. They might just embrace you back.
