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Out of practice
me: I can jump off a boat in the middle of the bay without a second thought. for crying out loud.
j: but you've practiced what it's like to be in the bay...you haven't practiced switching jobs.
me: yeah, very good point.
j: just think about what would happen if you'd never swum in the bay before & some jerk pushes you off the ferry.
I am jumping ship. After working at my current job for 7 years and 49 weeks, I have given my notice. I am giving up my corporate job and corporate benefits and substantial industry perks for life at a startup. And as I sort through nearly 8 years of accumulated detritus at the old office, I'm experiencing some fear of the unknown.
My job has been like home to me for nearly eight years. My coworkers are like family in many ways. I have been very comfortable here. This place has been a rock for me during six years of majorly life-changing athletic endeavors. But I'm ready for new challenges and a different environment.
What makes me doubly sad is that I'll probably have to leave my health club as well. My heart aches at the thought of leaving my beloved Embarcadero YMCA. I will miss the treadmills with the billion-dollar view of the waterfront and the Bay Bridge. I will miss spin classes taught by my friends. I will even miss the crowded, overheated pool. I've entered that gym many times before sunrise and stepped out after a long workout into a brilliant (or sometimes gray and foggy) new day. I always run into friends there, and I know many of the staff. But it's not very convenient to where I'll be working starting in November.
It's a lot of change for me to stomach all at once. But it's exciting! Switching jobs is not necessarily something I want to get better at. But it probably wouldn't hurt if I learned to embrace change.
October 4, 2006 5:30 PM
sure - make me cry... so, you're almost the last of my 'first circle of friends' to leave the beloved Emb YMCA. L is sticking with me, right L?I'm off for a good cry now. :) Marissa
Good luck with your new job-sounds exciting! What I wouldn't give for an overheated pool though, the Boulder pools are all freezing.
I left a job after 17 years for an entirely new and different experience. Change keeps life interesting, if nothing else. Good luck!
Good luck on this healthy growing time in your life--when you do it on purpose, job change can be a tremendous learning experience. I averaged a job change about every 4-6 months from about 2001-2004, so I understand some of how you are feeling right now (I'm sure Dave can tell you about how unexcited I was about it, too). I've never done anything for 8 years before, though, not even lived in the same house. It sounds so... permanent to have had the same employer for that long!
Well I was 100% supportive until I learned that you will be leaving the Y. I will miss that seeing you and your red lock. (Ooh, but maybe that means I can have your locker?) And don't worry M, I won't be leaving the Y anytime soon.
No seriously, you know that I am super excited for you and that based on what you have told me, this is definitely a step (or jump) in the right direction. GOOD LUCK!!!!
"I" am so proud of "U" for having waged such a successful career at "T". You will have all kinds of fun at "D". And I'm sure your friends at the "Y" will forgive you.
Forced change is good. Good good good.
Congratulations! Relish the new-ness and the disorientation of the unknown. Seriously. It's exciting!
geez. i sounded almost sage there...
it's always easier said than done, but i can promise you one thing: you are in for a lot of learning about so many things (yourself being the most important). enjoy all the new experiences! you're going to be amazing.