No matter how arduous the journey they all start with but one step. This first step can be important and especially in the case of an adaptive change like the one the I’m going through now.
In addition to the changes of due to losing a job and the associated requirement to find a new means of support, I would also like to add some other intentions into the mix. Some actually started already and I’m well on my way, some will just be starting.
The first one started a couple of weeks ago, my wife has started a position and has gone from a full time homemaker to a full time employee. This makes our financial situation much better. And it also opens up the need for me to become the homemaker, the stay at home Dad. Learning to cook, clean and do the laundry and the self discipline to stick with it will be involved here.
Next concerns my health. Over the last couple of years, I have let my regular exercising slide and my weight is not where I want it to be. When I’m nervous or bored, I tend to grab whatever is handy and stuff it in my mouth. Being at home by myself, is recipe for disaster if I’m not careful, so instead I would like to focus on getting on top of this.
Before this all started we were in the first steps of remodeling our basement began. My wife was proceeding to install tile into our laundry room and a hallway. As the existing floor came up, we found a slow water linked that caused a call to our insurance and the uncovering of some damage, that will mean the remodeling of some bathrooms and we will end up updating most of the basement.
And the final intention is to start of a new nonprofit called Community Bridge. This is an idea that has been swirling in my head for about a year and a half. I would like to begin to mature this idea. Over the last couple of years I have been studying the idea of communities, Web 2.0 stuff and social networking; not just from a technology point of view but also from human relations point of view. Community Bridge is born partially from this study and deals with connecting small local (neighborhood) communities in the US with small communities in third world countries to form bonds and relationships at a community level. And then to link these small communities with other geographically adjacent small communities at both ends. And as these connections grow to build dense webs of helping relationships.
My priorities are:
- My family and being a stay at home Dad
- Finding a job
- Losing weight and getting in shape
- Remodeling the house
- Building Community Bridge
It’s a lot, but by paying attention to the priorities and figuring out what the level of effort required for each one in order then I should be able to manage my time and make progress across the board.
For 1 & 2 I have a pretty good idea of the time that it will take and I’m now refining my scheduling and the effort involved. With both of these I’m learning a lot, so I expect major changes as I learn more.
With regular exercise, I have been successful before and am confident that I will be successful again in short order. This is something I enjoy doing and it makes me feel better, the only hard part is keeping it a priority time wise.
Losing weight, remodeling and Community Bridge are pretty much green fields. Their will be a lot of learning and I imagine a lot of missteps. And at this point, I don’t have a good plan to move forward; an approach and plan will have to be built.
To this point my blog byline has been “warn notice” for the last 63 days. This is now over with and it is time to move forward. I’m not sure what this blog becomes but I would like to try to cover the 5 change areas with 5 bylines, sharing information for each as appropriate. Not sure what the mix will end up and it may change over time.
After 22 years, a break in the grind is a novel idea, and I want to use this time to my greatest enjoyment and advantage. I would like to hit the ground running and not look back. In the last day I have worked in each of the areas, I won’t do this everyday, but thought it was good to at least do a little on day one.
15 million people are currently unemployed in the US, and now I am one of them.
Tonight is fun with friends, it’s bridge night.
Best wishes for you, your family and friends. May you all enjoy good health, deep love and the joy of helping others.
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