Lurker no more

[CWW]

Hi everyone,

As the title suggests, I have been lurking on this site for years and learning from everyone, I'd say especially when reading through some of the journals - thank you! I'm a western Canadian who has always lived on the prairies. I recently left very secure employment in government paper pushing, mainly because of how miserable everyone was that I worked with. I definitely allowed the constant negativity to get to me, and when I didn't see other ways out of the situation, I made the call to stop subjecting myself to the toxicity and move on. I'm a few years short of my initial FIRE goal, but I have 17x expenses saved and will just need to figure it out. For now I'm just decompressing.

It's funny/sad to think about the reaction of my coworkers when I said I was leaving. Everyone admits that they're miserable there, but would tell me that they "only" have 15 - 20 years until a full pension, so are just going to put up with it. Even when I told select people earlier on that I'd been focusing on saving up so that I could be flexible if the job became untenable, they would tell me that they couldn't leave the regular paycheque. I told them that yes the pension would be nice, but I couldn't do it anymore.

Anyway, that's a bit about me, thanks for reading!

[daylen]

We aren't cool enough for you anymore?

[CWW]

Haha hopefully I can join you and the other cool kids here!

[daylen]

For some reason my brain jumped to the conclusion that you were leaving and decided to make an account just to say goodbye, ha.

[Frita]

Good for you giving the toxic work environment the high one! Decompression can take awhile, especially if putting up for BS for a long time. Welcome aboard!

[classical_Liberal]

Congrats on semi-RE, or sabbatical, or whatever. It takes some serious guts to leave behind a paycheck in search of a better and more balanced life. Look forward to reading more... By that I mean start a journal!

[Colibri]

Welcome ! and thanks for joining.

Funny how I have a similar story. I have been semi-ERE for the last 3 years and will hit full ERE in about 2 years. I quite a very stable and well paid govie job after about 10 years there. Now when I meet my ex-colleagues at the grocery store they tell me how there are still miserable, how the boss is still a jerk, how I am "lucky" to got out of it. And yes the same old same " I really admire you for doing what you did, I couldn't do it, and really I only need another 15 years to get my pension" What a sad song.

And don't worry about your feeling of not having any plans. That is the best part because opportunities will knock at your door, things that you would never had contemplated before because of full-time work. This is the best part to come. Re-invent yourself ! Be who you want to be.

[CWW]

For some reason my brain jumped to the conclusion that you were leaving and decided to make an account just to say goodbye, ha.

No problem, I can see how my post could be read that way. Hopefully I'm not actually that ridiculous!

Good for you giving the toxic work environment the high one! Decompression can take awhile, especially if putting up for BS for a long time. Welcome aboard!

Thanks Frita, the decompression is an interesting period. After always having a job since I was a teenager, I need to keep telling myself to just relax.

Congrats on semi-RE, or sabbatical, or whatever. It takes some serious guts to leave behind a paycheck in search of a better and more balanced life. Look forward to reading more... By that I mean start a journal!

Thanks, I'm not sure yet what to call it either. I'll go with the "whatever" for now though. When people ask me what I'm going to do, the answer I've settled on "I'm not sure." Depending on the audience, I may need to repeat it a few times. We'll see about the journal, but I do have to admit that I've followed your semi-ERE story pretty closely. It's inspiring to see how you've been working through the process!

Welcome ! and thanks for joining.

Funny how I have a similar story. I have been semi-ERE for the last 3 years and will hit full ERE in about 2 years. I quite a very stable and well paid govie job after about 10 years there. Now when I meet my ex-colleagues at the grocery store they tell me how there are still miserable, how the boss is still a jerk, how I am "lucky" to got out of it. And yes the same old same " I really admire you for doing what you did, I couldn't do it, and really I only need another 15 years to get my pension" What a sad song.

And don't worry about your feeling of not having any plans. That is the best part because opportunities will knock at your door, things that you would never had contemplated before because of full-time work. This is the best part to come. Re-invent yourself ! Be who you want to be.

Yes your story sounds very similar! I'm sure that when you and I bump in to our former coworkers many years down the road, their stories and gripes will be unchanged.

I'm looking forward to seeing what my next chapter is, and allow myself to respond to new opportunities at some point in the future. But not too soon! Good luck on your next 2 years until full ERE.