After working full-time for several years I resigned from my high stress job. If I hadn't had such a strong confirmation that it was the right thing to do it may have been a hard decision to make.
You may ask, "Why would you give up a fairly high paying job with great benefits in this economy?" I know people have thought it even if they haven’t said it. It's only been two weeks and already I can tell you why. It’s true I am making no money, but I wake up excited to be alive EVERY day!
One of the best things about being home is having time to REALLY think about what matters most in life, and to start getting my priorities straight.
I have had time to reconnect with people I care about, make cookies and give them away and call old friends to visit or wish them happy birthday.I have been able to check on our parents every day, play with my grand baby and record things in a journal. I have helped someone I care about catch up on their housework, cooked real meals for my family, and have given rides to someone who doesn’t have a car. I have read four books and started studying gospel teaching that are important to me. I have started organizing and repairing things in my home and finally feel hopeful that eventually it will be the kind of home I can be proud to live in, a haven of refuge where everyone feels welcome and will love to be no matter how simple and humble it may be. I have had some really great conversations with my kids unlike some in the past that were all too often carried on while I was preoccupied with an activity that had a deadline. I have been able to spend time with my husband and look forward to being spontaneous like I used to be, running off on some wilderness adventure of his making! It has been great building relationships with sisters I have been close to in the past, and working on building one with a sister I never knew while growing up, but am already learning to love just like the rest!
I know everyone doesn’t have the opportunity to work at home so I feel SO blessed! I love life! I love having time to work on things that are truly important. I have thanked God every day that I was blessed to be home when my kids were little. Those were the happiest days of my life and I wouldn’t trade them for any amount of money. And once again I thank Him to be working at home. I know I don’t have any little people who are here depending on me, but I have pledged to be useful to God and others with this gift I have been given—the gift of time.
Yes, there are many things to add to my to-do list. I need to improve on my Visiting Teaching, add in a fitness plan to improve my health, volunteer my time to serve others and many more things. But for now this is a good start and I am determined not to waste the thing I have come to appreciate the most lately—TIME!
