Gratitude and a Choice

As I take a look back over the past month, there’s a lot to reflect on.  Older generations crossing that rainbow bridge.  An acquaintance, close in age, succumbing to his battle with cancer.  The frequent reminder that life is too short.  Spend time with those close to you and/or who mean something to you.

There was also one big reminder last month, the passing of a living legend, Kobe Bryant.  I can’t say I was a fan of Kobe.  Heck, I can’t even say I’ve been a big fan of basketball since I was younger and had more time on my hands to watch the games.  However, there is one thing I can’t deny.  Kobe had an unparalleled work ethic and had a significant impact to many people around the world.  I was at the gym when I found out, and I found out a few minutes before it hit all the screens in the gym.  When the news broke, I observed the shock and change in mood of almost everyone in the gym.  The atmosphere changed.  It was relatively quiet.  I’ve never witnessed anything like that before.

Another thing.  Still going on.  The coronavirus.  So many people infected.  Many died.  Many sick.

Also this past month, I took a work related class about an hour away from where I live.  From an observation perspective, it was surprising that an hour from where I live, it felt like I was worlds apart.  I have an easy commute that I’m thankful for.  Some of the worst traffic in the Bay Area is where the class was.  Thankfully, again, I didn’t have to get stuck in it.  However, I did see it unfold every day that week.

After the class, I got home and packed for a work offsite trip.  It was a great offsite.  Every year I am a part of it, I am thankful.  It was in Key West and I had never been there before.  It has a nice, relaxing, tropical vibe that you would expect it to have.  After I returned home, I unpacked.  Then packed again.  Then went off to my future home for a long weekend.  It was relaxing.  I had time to myself to think.  I worked out.  I started running again.  At this point, it’s safe to say that I’ve caught the running bug again.  I said to myself that I would never run a full marathon again.  That was 5 years ago.  Heck, I tried to run it 4 years ago.  After a training run of 19 miles my body was done running.  I couldn’t run 2 miles the following week.  So since then it’s been 10Ks and a few half marathons.  My goal is to run a full marathon at the end of the year in under 5 hours.  My fastest time is 5 hours and 13 minutes.  BTW, today, I applied to be a brand ambassador for Honey Stinger. *Crossing fingers*

I just got done with a run after work and decided to write my post for the month.  Would like to write more, but I’m not at a point where I’ll start pumping out weekly blog posts.  Even if I wanted to, I don’t know if I can.  It would be about some of the personal goals I’m working on and not just FI related goals.  I’m hardly ever doing nothing.  I work, workout, read, study for certification tests.  I have my own personal goals and am not sure everyone wants to hear about that.  I will likely start posting about my training journey for the marathon.  The FI stuff, it’s being worked on.  It’s setup automatically, so I don’t have to think about it all the time.

Today I told my HR director and my boss that I would like to have some kind of timeline for the reminder of my tenure.  I am very grateful for the opportunity and position I’m in.  However, it no longer drives me.  I don’t wake up excited to go to work every day.  I do have a great team to work with and it’s the people I work with that make the difference.  I downsized my home and living arrangements almost 2 years ago.  I invested in my future home.  A place where I want to be.  Curerently I’m renting a small living space until I can amicably part ways with my current company.  This may be a catalyst for something new and exciting.

Today, I read a post which had a quote that really resonated with me.