This is an interesting season in my life. In short, it feels like I’m retired. This might seem like a strange thing to say, considering that I’m still working at my new job, I have about as many hours as I did at my previous job, and I still pursue my passions every day. Plus it’ll probably be several years, maybe more, before I can actually take a very early retirement and dive headfirst into some of my bigger life goals. Yet despite many things in my life staying the same, there have been enough changes as of late that I’ve noticed a profound difference.
The biggest change by far has been getting my new job. This job is extremely different from my old job, including the environment. My new job has a much more relaxed atmosphere than my previous job and it shows. Most of my previous coworkers complained about a variety of things nearly every time they spoke. There are far fewer complaints at my current job and my coworkers seem to have a solutions-based outlook that keeps them optimistic and always moving closer to where they want to be in life. I also get to spend a good deal of time by myself, which I enjoy since extensive interaction with other people tires me out. I rarely feel as tired, stressed, or upset at the end of the day now as I did at my previous job; sometimes I even leave feeling more refreshed than I did at the start of my shift. I’d say the work I’m doing now is easier than what I used to do, but it often doesn’t feel like work because I love doing it. A lot of people dream of being paid to do what they love and I’m so grateful that I get to do that.
Even though my weekly workload hasn’t changed much, I still feel like I have more time to do things that I enjoy outside of work. I think this is because I’m mostly working morning shifts. At my previous job, I’d wake up, spend a few hours getting as much done as I could, work most of the afternoon and early evening, and then come home and finish whatever I didn’t get done before work. Even when I slowed down time, I still often felt like I had to rush in my free time. Now, whenever I finish up for the day, I’ve got most of the afternoon and all of the evening to spend as I like. This gives me plenty of time to go to the gym, unicycle, read, write (which I can also do at my current job and couldn’t at my previous job), stretch, and do whatever else I want. Even when I go at a slow pace, I still manage to fit almost everything in before I go to bed. It usually feels like I have two days off once my shift ends, which is a very nice feeling and makes my schedule pretty laid back.
Overall, I feel consistently happier now than I have in a long time. I love that I’m getting paid to do something that is much more in line with my life plans than any other job I’ve had. There is almost nothing in my life at this point that could cause me stress and, since I’ve gotten much better at managing my emotions and thoughts this year, I feel pretty calm most days; even a bad day for me at this point is nothing compared to what it used to be. This feels like a much-needed break and I’m loving every minute of it. I’ll probably continue enjoying this honeymoon phase for another month or two. By then, I think I’ll be used to this new schedule and it’ll feel normal to me. I’ll probably feel inclined at that point to move on to the next big thing for me since that’s how I tend to approach life. If all goes well, then I’d like to take another look into entrepreneurship and financial freedom. I certainly have the time and the positive mental state to learn more about starting a business and using it as a bridge to reach my dreams. For now, it feels like I’m getting a taste of what my life will look like in the future when I can do everything I’m doing now to an even greater degree. I look forward to that and, in the meantime, I’m going to continue enjoying each new step along this wonderful journey.