Life With a View

In the fictionalized account of JFK's assassination, one of Stephen King's characters says, "Life turns on a dime. Sometimes towards us, but more often it spins away, flirting and flashing as it goes: so long, honey, it was good while it lasted, wasn’t it?" Not many people embrace the kind of change described in that line. Some people avoid change at any cost. I live somewhere in between the two, ordinarily waiting for change to come to me, which happens more often than not. This time I chose change on my own. One week later, I have no regrets.

My reasons for leaving (what to some would appear) a good job made sense to me, though articulating the rationale for others has not been easy. Maybe the main motivation came from my gut--an intuitive knowing that life needed to turn. So I tossed the coin and let it turn.

Several articles written about knowing when to change jobs helped me discern whether my gut reaction had value. The best one lists six reasons to quit a job, all of which were a near perfect fit:

• You dread going to work in the morning.
• You truly dislike the type of work you're doing.
• You can't shake the feeling that you just don't fit in at the company.
• You are getting passed over for promotions.
• The work has become so routine you could do it in your sleep.
• You have serious concerns about the financial stability of your organization.

Two other articles had more than a few statements that rang true for my experience. Every friend I have knew I wanted to leave and probably wondered when I would stop complaining and jump. They all seemed to know better than I knew what a poor fit the job had become.

I have the dime in hand and have taken a good long look at the other side of change. Not bad. The journey of life often goes uphill, requiring more than a dime's worth of effort and risk. At the top of the hill I don't expect to see anything except a new view, another hill, maybe a ravine to cross or a steep cliff, and many more hills to climb. The last hill was good while it lasted. And the view from the top? It's worth a million!

[Photos: Vancouver]