Whoever said, “Change is good,” never left a job after eight years.

Oh, sure, change may be good but change is also scary. And exciting. And awesome. And terrifying.

There comes a time in everyone’s life where you have to step back, take a good look around and make a decision about the rest of your life. Or at least the next ten years. (I use the world “you” collectively of course.) I’m not a proponent of change, by no means. Ask my mother and she’ll tell you I hate change. I resist change. I was a big pain in the ass about change when I was a kid. Now that I’m older, I can deal with a little better.

I digress… Recently I took a step back and decided things needed to change.

It wasn’t easy to make the decision it was time to seek other employment. It wasn’t easy to tell the current place of business that I was leaving. But I knew it was the right thing to do. I gave my notice last Monday and have never felt better about my decision. Aside from a few, “what do I think I’m doing” moments, that is.

It was a great place for me to work for just over eight years. I learned a lot and had some great opportunities. I met some fantastic people and made long-term friendships and found someone I can’t live without. It’s a great company but I think I outgrew it. I felt stagnant and unchallenged. And I was bored. I needed some sort of brain stimulation. And I wasn’t getting it 40-hours a week.

I will miss so many of the people I worked with every day. They were funny and fun. And they laughed at my stupid jokes. It was a great ride while it lasted. It’s actually kind of sad cleaning out my cubicle. It’s kind of sad cleaning out the entire department (I was the last one standing in that office–now everything is being shipped to the corporate office). I moved boxes, threw away old stuff, and cleaned up for the last two weeks. The department is looking rather barren. It’s kind of sad, actually. Looking around and seeing everything being boxed up and shipped out. Hard to believe I’m leaving after all this time and it feels sort of surreal.  

Today I close one chapter of my life and open a new one on Monday. I’m very excited about the new opportunity to learn and grow and make something better of myself. I’m looking forward to going to work again, to having that much-needed brain stimulus again. I’m hoping the new day job will help surge my creativity again. It seems to me when I’m busy during the day, I relax at night by puking out a new story.

This is one change I’m actually embracing.