Status Check – First 30 Days

OK, so I’ve been off work for nearly a month now. Time to reflect on the weeks since then, and what I feel I’ve accomplished.

For one thing, thanks to the combined efforts of Tonya and yours truly, the house is in the best shape ever. The office is tidy and actually looks like an office, instead of like a storage unit. The entire place is clean and feels altogether spring-like. The only big remaining task is to clean the winter’s grime off the patio furniture and get the balcony ready for some long overdue sun-worshipping. Although admittedly I’m loathe to anger the weather gods with a misplaced show of bravado, so maybe another week or so until that goes down.

But this time off was never about catching up on chores. Rather, it is about getting my own personal “house” in order. And that’s more of a mixed report card at this point, I must admit. I have been engaged in some serious thinking and planning, that’s for certain. And though I may have been aiming a bit high, I don’t feel I’m as far along there as I’d like.

I’ve not selected a radical new career, nor set sail on a one-way cruise to some exotic port of call to open a bar for suntan oil slathered gringo patrons. (That one did make the “possibilities” list though!) Nor have I cured cancer, solved world hunger or learned a new language fluently. In fact, aside from a tidy domicile, I don’t feel I have a lot to show, tangibly speaking. And in some ways, I find this depressing. Perhaps deep down I naively expected some kind of revelation or epiphany to provide a crystal clear path to follow. Alas, it seems life does not work that way. 

So I’m resetting my expectations and going into woodshed mode, getting ready to muck and grind and get dirty, metaphorically speaking. Or since it’s nearly baseball season, it’s time to manufacture a few runs. A bunt single, an error or even (gasp!) a hit batsman or two. Just get a couple runs over and get a rally started. And if not, what the hell. I'll grab a beer and a hot dog and enjoy a day at the park, just the same. Maybe the sun, the crowd and the grass will prove inspirational. Hmm.

So to get the inning started, I’ve decided to embark on a little volunteer work suggested by a trusted colleague. Reaching out to one of my passions, as it were. I hope to teach a few Junior Achievement seminars to Grade 9 students in the month of April. The obvious course fit from my viewpoint is entitled Economics for Success. I hope that for the first time I might be able to use my economics degree for something other than a drink coaster. One of the things I’ve realized this past month is that I really do love teaching others and sharing my experiences, or perhaps just relating my dumb mistakes. Time to embrace that prophetic despair.com gem: It could be that purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

So for now, life starts with me squaring around to bunt and hoping not to eat a high and tight slider. But hey, it’s a start.  And isn’t that the whole point? Play ball!