Today is my 35th birthday.

My husband’s out of town for work so I celebrated by having lunch with a good friend and coworker and then going to dinner with my father-in-law. A big chunk of the conversations that occurred centered on my upcoming departure from my job. I’m leaving 8-5 work altogether in the pursuit of something…else.

Sometimes, if I think too much about that decision, I can think myself out of it. I come close to going back to my boss and asking him to tear up my resignation letter.

But, then, I think about how today is my 35th birthday. A quick Google search shows that, at the time of this post, the average life expectancy for a US female is 78.74 years. That means that, if I follow the average, I’ve lived almost half my life already! And, while it’s been a good life, maybe even a great life so far, I can’t help but feel like there’s something more, something better to come.

I also can’t help but feel that the “something” exists outside of the 8-5 world. It’s more free, riskier; less dependable, perhaps, but more liveable.

I have no idea what my days, weeks, months or life will look like after I leave the job. But, I have a feeling that, come my 36th birthday, I’ll be happy and free. And that means 35 is going to be a great year of life!

An Update

I stumbled across the above-written section of this post in my “drafts” section. It was written on June 19, 2018. My guess is that I never posted it because it didn’t seem complete to me. Although, looking at it now, I think it’s complete enough.

And now, a little over three years later, it’s fun to look back and confirm that not only was 35 a great year of life but it’s been a great three-ish years since. The transition out of full-time employment has been challenging but successful. And I couldn’t be happier that I left.

Interestingly, the same Google link that apparently showed that the average life span for women three years ago was 78.74 years now shows that the expectancy is 81.8 years. So I gained another three-ish years of life expectancy all while feeling like I’ve gotten my life back by having more freedom and flexibility during my days in roughly the same amount of time.

I may still be figuring out what I want to be when I grow up but until then I’m happy I’ve found the “next right thing” for now.

Can’t complain about that!