I’m sitting here, in a coffee shop, writing. First time doing it too. Before now I never understood why someone would come to a place that is loud, with plenty of other people around, to get something done. My perspective was wrong. It isn’t about getting something done, well in the end it is, but the reason I’m here is for a change of environment.
Recently I left my job of 11 years and I’ve taken the last month off from doing pretty much anything except what I really wanted to. Side note – thankfully my wife is awesome, and has allowed me to do this with no complaints. Actually she has been one of the biggest forces keeping me from going straight back into work. The past month has been extraordinary, weird, stressful, fun, exciting, disappointing, and most of all revealing.
Revealing
Revealing in that I have really gotten to do everything I had thought I wanted to do but couldn’t for the past 11 years. I’ve found out there are things I wanted to do that I really don’t like and there are things that I had no idea that I would like.
Disappointing
Disappointing because I should have done this SO much sooner, I have wasted a lot of my time.
Exciting & Fun
Exciting and fun, well that one is easy, I’ve had free reign to do whatever I wanted.
Stressful
Stressful – yeah, it has been stressful. My brain has been so used to heads down elbows up hard work for the past 11 years. That stopped immediately. It took me a good while to get over that. Actually, I’m pretty sure I didn’t get over it completely. I think I’ve created work for myself to fill the void that was left. The stress is mostly gone though. Mostly because I still think about what needs to be done soon. I can’t be a stay at home dad forever.
Weird
This experience has been weird because for the past month I’ve been in situations that I have never in my life been in. I’ve had to go on interviews. I’ve had to convince people that I’m worth it to be hired to be on their teams. I’ve been turned down for jobs. All of this is very foreign to me. I’ve always done things in a very laid back manner and have been lucky for it to work out in my benefit. Now, I want to go make something of myself, to go where I want to. Not just where the next thing leads.
It has all be extremely extraordinary because I’ve be allows to discover and realize all of this. I’ve had the support and lots of goading from my family. I didn’t believe that I was actually allowed to do all of this. My family did some hard work to convince me that it was okay for it to happen.
Oh, geeze, that was quite a tangent. It was necessary though. I’m now able to tell you this story because all of this has happened. I’m able to do so in a coffee shop, because I’m comfortable enough to create the story anywhere. I also needed to come to the coffee shop because I’m tired of working at home. Yep, I’m working. This is part of what I want to do with The Good Family Man. I want to tell these stories in the hope that it helps you.
Sometimes You Just Have to Get Out
Aside from a couple of great days in the mountains, I’ve been working at the same desk that I’ve had for years. Sitting at the same chair. Trying out new things. Trying to write in new ways. I needed to get out of the house. So I did. Doing so has changed my perspective. It really did let me create the previous half of this article. The only thing I did was hop on my bike and peddle over to the local coffee shop, have a cup and some quiche and start writing.
The point of this story (epic, diatribe?) is to get out of the house. Change the habit. Try something different, somewhere different. Even if all you do is sit in a chair in the back yard, you’re going to see and feel things differently.
By the way, I’m not at a Starbucks, I’m at a local, small place that is in my neighborhood. Not that Starbucks is awful or anything, I give them plenty of my money. But, I do like giving to local businesses, especially ones that are in my neighborhood.