No Monday Worries

This is  the first Sunday that I haven't worried about a Monday in the last 12 and a half years. 

I quit my job as a teacher two weeks ago - just a week before I was supposed to go back to work.  The thought of having to go back to my teaching job left me with such a feeling of hopelessness that my husband told me not to go back.  This wasn't the first time he had said this to me, but it was the time that I finally listened.

There were many things that led me to this point, but at the end of the day, the thing that really sent me over the edge was that my job exhausted me, mentally and physically.  It exhausted me to the point that I felt like every other part of my life was suffering.

When it came down to it, I finally realized that the relationships I have with my husband and two children suffered the most.  I was often grumpy, impatient, and resentful.  I took out my frustration on them.  I felt as if they were the obstacles in my life that made my job stressful, instead of realizing that my job was the obstacle that made my life stressful.  No matter what I was doing in the classroom, no matter what I did over my breaks, whether it was Thanksgiving break, Winter Break, Spring Break, or even the "104 days of summer vacation" - the weight of school always bogged me down.

So I quit.

I am so happy with my decision.
 
I am not far into this world of unemployment, and I know that I'm not going to be able to stay unemployed forever, but quitting my job has left me time to clear my head and think about what makes me happy.  At the top of my list -  I'm so excited to see my kids at the end of their school day.  We come home, we talk about their day, we have a snack, we play, and we do homework, and all of this happens with no regrets - I'm not worried that I should be grading papers or planning for school. I don't think about how if my husband was already home, he could be doing these things with the kids, so I could get some work done.  I don't stress over making dinner - I love to cook - because now I have the time.  I don't mind doing the laundry or even putting it away, because I have the time.  And during the day, when it's quiet around the house, I work on projects started long ago and think about what I am going to do so I can continue feeling this good about my family, my life, and myself.  I have the time to think about creating a plan for the future, and all of it involves a happy and healthy family and self. 

I will sleep well tonight - no Monday worries here.