Resignations & Revelations

Yorick Brown, of Y: The Last Man fame, wasn't the only one standing at a crossroads recently.

In what I hope will be one of those moves that, in the coming months and years, I'll look back on and ask, "Why did I ever wait so long?", yesterday I handed in my resignation at work.

I made the decision on Thursday night, although I'd been building toward it for weeks without knowing it. Quitting turned out to be a lot easier to do than I'd thought it would be, probably in part because I'd already warmed a lot of people up to the idea that I'd be "retiring" soon (and partly because no one seemed to want to talk me out of it; hmmmmm). A few people said they were "shocked, but not surprised" which I think means that they'd been expecting it, but just not right now. I choked up a couple of times while telling people how badly I feel about leaving some of them in the lurch this way, but other than that I got through it.

I have three weeks left, during which time I have to transition my 14 direct reports over to new managers, tie up any loose ends, say a lot of goodbyes, and then walk away from what is essentially only my 2nd job in just over 22 years of continuous employment. Not too many people in this day and age are faced with that kind of scenario, since it's much more common to move around and/or have periods of unemployment as you journey through your career. Come August 2nd, I will, for the very first time in my life - thanks to the seemingly endless education cycle of Kindergarten through University, and then a career - be faced with a blank slate labelled "the future."

I think that's going to be a very good feeling, but I won't know for sure until I'm facing it for real. I guess it's possible that I'll be scared shitless by the prospect, or even bored out of my mind... but I'm expecting to feel like there's nothing but boundless opportunities in front of me, with complete freedom to choose between them. One of the most frustrating aspects of work life of late has been the perception - in my mind, at least - that there's never any time available to do anything except deal with fires or respond to adhoc requests from others. So just imagine having the luxury to actually think about what to do next, how to do it to the level of quality that you think it deserves, and then to take whatever amount of time is required to complete it! For most of my co-workers, that seems to unfortunately be nothing but a pipe dream these days.

If you're inclined to do such things, feel free to wish me luck. As always, I'll take whatever good fortune I can find.