Freedom at Home

Oh, I can't wait till it's warm again.  This winter has been a real winter.  I don't know where you live, but here in Missouri, we've been spoiled by warmer temperatures and lower inches of snow for a number of years but this winter reminded me of the winters of my childhood.  A foot of snow in one one week, followed by an ice storm the next and then more snow on top of that.  Thank God I'm a work-at-home and school-at-home kind of woman.  I couldn't imagine being forced to go outside even if I didn't want to.  The freedom of picking and choosing when I want to leave my house is a freedom I never want to give up.  Except for the occasional visit to my children's school, I don't have to go outside unless I absolute want to.

I really feel for the people who have jobs where they HAVE to go to work, regardless.  I feel for them because I was one of them six years ago.  I was the receptionist for my office and even though other people could fill in for me in my absence, it was more trouble than what it was worth to take off.  Now don't get me wrong, if it was too crazy out there and they hadn't closed the office, I did have sense enough to take my life in my own hands and call in, but that wasn't too often.  Walking down memory lane, I'm starting to get misty eyed.  I really miss my paycheck.  ;  )

Yes, I really do miss my paycheck, but I don't miss the environment per se'.  While I was there it was cool because I loved being a receptionist.  Now that I've been home for six years, I really can't imagine me in the old fish bowl.  I think that's what they call it.  It's been far too long for me to have hung on to the working world's lingo.  For me, being home, in my own domain, doing my own thang and calling my own shots is the most exquisite feeling in the world.  Bringing home my new babies is milliseconds behind.  When I half-heartily look for outside employment because I'm tired of struggling, I think about the people who are struggling and still have to work out "there."    I imagine the dread they feel when the alarm clock goes off, I imagine them thinking of a master plan as they shower, I imagine them finally making it to work and sitting down at their desks, if they have a desk, and I imagine them watching the clock and wishing it would fast forward to quitting time.  That's how I was the last year before I jumped ship. 

I knew it was time to go because I was making my transition from wife to single mom and even though I was glad my marriage was over, it was very challenging knowing that it was just me now, and it affected my attitude at work.  Where I used to greet my callers with my sing-songy voice, I had to struggle to keep the smile in my voice.   The day I snapped on my VERY patient supervisor was the day I started seriously thinking about bailing.  It wasn't until my now fourteen year old was seriously acting out in school that I had a real reason to jump; and jump I did.  I gave them my three month's notice and planned my escape. 

Now that I've been free for six years, with the past occasion of trying to work in a different industry, I truly can't imagine any other way of life.  Free to be me and all that I can be, right here in my own home.  No, I don't get raises, LOL, I don't even get a paycheck, but the freedom I have is priceless.  Now all I have to do is keep doing what I've been doing for the past six years and that's striving to attain financial freedom to the point that me struggling, just like my former work-outside-the-home life, will be a thing of the past.  Until the next time..."Live your life by loving yourself."