Good Bye, Rat Race!

The best is yet to come.

I'll never forget the feeling when I quit my last job. It was momentous because I'd been working since I graduated from college. Except for maternity leaves, there were few periods of my adult life when I had not been working.

So when my husband gave his blessing to quit my corporate job, I was elated. What a gift! [Eternal gratitude, Laz!]

Initially, I felt a mix of joy and relief.

No more boring meetings, disappointing bosses, and inadequate pay.

No more commuting on early morning icy roads and coming home in the dark.

Good bye, rat race!

Those days were behind me! Here I was in my late 50s, and I was free, free, free from corporate America.

Little did I know I would be back in the saddle of a J-O-B (I still don't like that word) almost immediately. Opportunity knocked. I answered when a part-time gig working for a non-profit fell into my lap.

I got to teach yoga to people with substance use disorder. It was work that aligned with my heart. Even though the job paid peanuts, I would have kept working there had the pandemic not ruined it.

In an instant, everything changed. Teaching yoga at on-site treatment facilities was no longer an option.

Cut loose, and now what? I felt young and capable. I AM young and capable. Fifty-nine is not old.

As it turns out, I'm not alone in this predicament.

Ten thousand people A DAY are retiring every day in North America. They will continue to leave the workforce at this rate for the next 10-15 years. The number of retirees who will be wandering around is staggering.

There is a good chance you will spend one-third of your life in retirement.

You'll follow a predictable path. After you leave the working world, you'll probably go on vacations and do fun things. You'll sleep in and pull the covers up as the sound of freezing rain pelts your windows.

But here's a spoiler: the novelty wears off. It may take weeks, months, or a year or two. You will come to realize there's a bit of grief with what you left behind:

• your old identity

• your purpose

• your routines

• your relationships

• your power.

You will have to fill those holes to move forward. Dig deep. How will you fill them?

Last week I wrote about leaving a legacy. There's so much left for us to do. What will you do to make this final third count?

Start thinking. Start considering. Take a step. See what happens.

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about."

Charles Kingsley, priest and novelist

The Yoga for Better Sleep class will start on Zoom this Thursday for three consecutive weeks from 7:30-8:30 p.m. I will record the classes and send you the link the following day. If you can't make it, you'll be able to take the course at your leisure. You can use the recordings to experiment with different sleeping tools every night. You will have full access to the recordings until the end of November. That means you will have an arsenal of tried and true techniques available to test. Get your sleep back! Click here.