The other week was the last week at my job of the past 20 years. I had known it was coming for three months, so it was no surprise. There was a lot of time to think about it and prepare. But boy… it was a really weird week.
Throughout the past year, many people had their “last week at work” and I cheered them on! Every person who worked for me I encouraged to enjoy their last week – relish it. How often do you get to leave a job of so many years on a good note? Granted, we were being let go not of our own accord – but regardless. It was still with smiles and encouragement. So I said ENJOY! Every last Monday I was the prime cheerleader. HAPPY LAST MONDAY!
And so, each day, I patted myself on the back. HAPPY LAST TUESDAY! HAPPY LAST WEDNESDAY! I had a day countdown I religiously tore off each day. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! (Actually, I had been keeping a countdown for about the last 30 days)
The hardest part though was that I was, by this time, very disconnected from everything going on. So some of my weekly meetings seemed very silly. In fact, I cancelled most of them because really – they were pointless at this point. Others would be taking on what I am doing so let them start. I didn’t know what was going on, no hot projects to jump on, things to fix; talk about a boring week.
Thankfully, I had reserved some jobs I could do that I knew otherwise wouldn’t get done. They were mostly mindless type of jobs, but good time fillers. So I did manage to stay busy but it just was weird.
I’m really glad that week is over. It was boring, stressful and full of anticipation and anxiety – as well as excitement and joy! But all of those things mixed together all at once.
And so now I am onto my first week off! And smartly, we scheduled a vacation, so I will enjoy the beach and ocean breezes before having to start delving into what my next job may be.