A new career...at my age?

Hello Menopausal Moms!
It’s been a while, but a lot has been going on.  I began a new job!  Yes, me at 51 years of old, decided to take a new career path.  I don’t think anything has ever been so scary, but I am not sure why?

Ok, well I know why a few things were scary.  As you have heard me declare before, I am severely claustrophobic.  And, when I accepted this position, I had no idea I would need to ride in elevators.  That is a big no-no for me.  No way do I get into any contraption that closes up like vampires in their coffins.    

But, after starting my new position, and no ability to turn back, I was told I had to attend a meeting on the 19^th floor of the tower next door at the end of the week.  What? OMG!  I began to cry inside.  Do I tell these people I don’t do elevators?  They don’t know me.  Will they think I am crazy?
 
Then that dreaded day arrived.  I reluctantly left my office and walked toward the tower.  As I got closer, the tower seemed to get bigger and scarier.  It was like the big marshmallow man in Ghostbusters! 

I kept looking up and thinking, “I can’t do this.”  And, the tower seemed to stare back at me in laughter!  And, on that particular day, I couldn’t do it.  I turned back and told my supervisor I just wasn’t able to go up 19 floors.  She said, “No worries…we are moving to a new building in a few weeks and you will never have to go into the tower at that point anyway.”  Hallelujah!!   

We are now in the new building, but we are housed on the 4^th floor!  UGH!  So, until I get into shape, I have to ride an elevator.  But, I can handle going up 3 floors (we enter on the 1^st floor.)  And, my hope is that it may break this fear.  We will see.  If not, stair climbing is in my future! 

Another thing that scared me about this big change was my health.  I had no more than accepted the position and resigned from my teaching position that I pinched a nerve in my neck.  Have you ever pinched a nerve before?  It’s horrible!!  I woke up one morning, sat up in bed and felt like somebody had taken a big vice-grip and pulled my head to my shoulder, and it was locked in pain.  I could barely move.  My husband took me to the emergency room and meds were prescribed.  I ended up having to miss two weeks of my three week notice at the college.  I felt terrible both mentally for missing work and physically because of the intense pain.  But, a big “thank you” to Judge Judy and other courtroom shows for all of the entertainment during this two-week period.  Watching someone else get ripped to shreds helped ease my pain.

 

This is week 6 of healing from this condition.  I have been in physical therapy for a month, and it is helping tremendously!  I have not been able to sleep in my bed since it happened, but the recliner works out ok. L  I still have pain, but much, much lower.  However, this situation too has caused issues at my new place of employment.  I have to come in 15 minutes early to leave 15 minutes early in order to get to my therapy appointments on time.  But, no one seems to mind.  I just feel as though I have not given the best of impressions to my new co-workers.  Hopefully, that will change with time.

At this point, I am finally happy I took on this new challenge.  It was a huge career move, and one that will benefit my family so much!  But, I have to say, for two weeks I kept asking myself, “What have I done?”  I was scared I had made the wrong decision.  I loved the college and my students…and my supervisor was A.MA.ZING!  I miss them all so much!  And, part of my heart will always be there.  But, it was the right decision, and knowing that, I can move forward.  This position was truly a God thing for many reasons!  God has a plan, even for this older menopausal mom, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store! DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES!  Age is only a number.

When I wondered what I had done by changing positions,
God showed me a rainbow on my way to work.

The view from my new office!

And, in case you are wondering, I now work for a company called NTT Data where I am a business analyst.  And, I get to work from home part-time. Pretty cool!

May your hot flashes be mild and your wrinkles even milder!
Kim York