Choices

Since I have been vaguely dissatisfied (will that be on my tombstone? “Here lies Wayne, who was vaguely dissatisfied”) with what I’ve been doing professionally for some time, over the past few years I have considered a number of career changes. I worked part-time for a relative, selling office furniture. I almost got into a position with a software company in Herndon. I went a fair amount down the road toward working with someone I knew in his company, a digital communications startup. As it turned out, both companies folded, so maybe I made the right decisions. I thought about teaching. I took several classes in nonprofit management, and I’m still interested in that field.

There are several other examples of situations I looked at, but the point is, I’m not one of those people who lives their life with a clear idea of what they want to do and why. I like to try different things, and even though I’ve stayed in my current job for 13 years, for much of that time I’ve been poking around, looking for my next situation. None of the possibilities I’ve examined are directly in my current field.

Why this gets interesting (to me, anyway) is because of what happened when I got the word that the Exit door was looming.

I immediately started sending resumes and applications out. Did I send them to new and unusual career choices? No. I’ve sent them for jobs where I thought I could get hired. All the dreaming about new and fun places has gone out the window, because of two reasons, really.

One, the time crunch. It’s one thing to dream about a change when you have a paycheck coming in, and it’s something entirely different when you face the loss of that paycheck in a matter of weeks.

Two, I have two kids who will be in college very soon. Way too soon for comfort. So, any break in the income will affect how much I can put away. I’ve already stopped the automatic withdrawal of a little extra I was putting away for retirement, but kept up the college withdrawals. I have to stop that soon as well.

Now, all this doesn’t mean I’m not still looking for or won’t still apply for something that is out of the ordinary or just looks fun to me. But I do have to be practical and look for jobs that I can get more readily, and that will pay me enough. I was offered one job, teaching computer technology to middle schoolers, which I think would be great fun. But I can’t take that pay cut. Yet. Maybe someday.

I did get a positive communication today, which I won’t write about until I know more.

Fret factor: Rising

Sleep factor: Erratic