It’s hard to believe, but in five short days, I will hang up my work vest and transition from a life inside the warehouse to life at home. To be honest, I wasn’t sure the day would come when I’d be able to retire, let alone before I hit 60. After working for most of my life in one way or another, it’s going to be an interesting transition from Corporate America to being at home all day. But I’m here for it, and I’m ready to do retirement with the enthusiasm and joy that I have most days at work.

Maybe equally hard to believe, I have, for the most part, enjoyed my career, which has at times seemed like a meandering trail with no real direction, much like this post. I started working when I was 11 years old, babysitting for people, which was quite interesting. I learned from that experience that I did not want a career in child development. It was, at times, traumatizing to be the person in charge of tiny humans, especially when the tiny human had behavioral issues. At 11 years old, I was hardly equipped to deal with an 8 year old who just wanted to make life difficult for me because her parents went out every weekend instead of being at home. I look at my 11 year old grandson now and think that there is no way I’d leave him alone with his 7 year old sister, let alone another child he didn’t even know.

Who does that?! The parents of Gen X, that’s who.

Two days before my 16th birthday, I landed a job with the local school district, answering phones from 7 am until 10 am. Back then, school didn’t even start until 8:30 am, when I had already been at work for an hour and a half. I would have my first class at 10:30 pm, and then I had classes until 2:30 pm, at which time I would leave school to go to my second job. Early in the school year, the second job was with a local yacht club, and then starting in the spring, it was the local municipality. Did I need to work two jobs? No. It was just something I did my junior year of high school, because why not?

I continued to work through my senior year of high school, and then did a semester at the local community college, where I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I wasn’t all that interested in school at the time. Looking back, if I knew then what I know now … Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I would change a single thing. Was it hard spending the first 13 years after I graduated from high school floating from low paying job to low paying job? Yeah, it kind of was hard. But I still wouldn’t trade it for anything. I learned so much during that period of my life. I got married, had two great children, and got divorced. I learned during that time that I could deal with anything life threw at me. I lived through abuse, fear, discomfort, confusion and anger to emerge from the other end as a strong, slightly more confident woman.

I spent the whole of my childhood just trying to survive. Make no mistake, my parents were not abusive; that came during my marriage. But school age kids are mean. They aren’t sweet little angels who love everyone. Many of them are feral little jerks who are just looking for the person they can push around and bully for whatever reason. Little girls are the worst. And more than a few of those mean little girls grow up to be mean women. I was told by my classmates throughout school that I was ugly, I was stupid, I thought I was too good for others, no one liked me, and myriad other things that were meant to break me. It was just a training ground for my first marriage.

My now ex-husband isolated me from my friends, but I wouldn’t let him take my parents from me. He spent years telling me that his friends pitied him for being married to me. According to him, I was disliked, pathetic and stupid. It was all meant to break me down and keep me tied to him, until he decided to leave after two children and eight years of marriage. He tried to come back, but by the time he left, I was relieved, and I never tried to reconcile with him.

When I was 31, I landed a job that changed my life, and the lives of my children. I worked a demanding job, went back to school to get my degree, and found myself caring less and less what other people thought. My divorce was by far the most liberating thing that had ever happened to me up until that point.

It was glorious.

I was no longer regularly hearing that no one liked me, that I was stupid, that I couldn’t do something I wanted to do. The only person in my head was me. Well, me and the ghosts of people who had told me my entire life that I wasn’t worthy in one way or another. I knew it was going to take a lot of work to get to where I needed to be, but what else was I going to do? I spent the next seven years getting to know myself, and becoming comfortable with the person I am instead of who people wanted me to be. I no longer cared what others thought, and I lived my life for myself and my children. No one else mattered. But I found that people at work LIKED me. They valued my opinions. They treated me as an equal, even though my job title and theirs were miles apart.

In 2006, I graduated from college Summa Cum Laude. It had taken a lot of work, but I did it. Long nights, tough weekends, but that degree was mine. Two weeks later, I got a promotion and a position in a different department at work, and life was never the same.

I was very fortunate that I never had to work multiple jobs when my ex and I split up. I was able to be present for my kids, even though I was working a demanding full time job. Life wasn’t all roses, but I was doing important work and raising two kids who would grow up to be productive members of society. I think I did a good job on both fronts.

I worked in several industries – medical, legal, petrochemical, oil & gas, advertising specialties, and many in between. I met people from all over the world – Scotland, Nigeria, Angola, Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, India, England, China, Hong Kong, and many other places. I didn’t always get along with them all, and I didn’t like everyone, but I can look back with no regrets and no ill will toward anyone.

And now here I am, at the end of the career path. Back during the summer, I came to a fork in the path. Down one fork, a continuing career full of long days, some late nights and a ton of stress and uncertainty for the future. Down the other path, home, long days, some late nights and uncertainty for the future, but less stress and more free time. I took the fork toward home.

I said earlier that I wouldn’t change anything, but I was wrong. If I could go back, I would change one thing. I would find a way to let myself know that life is a series of changes, and nothing stays the same for very long. I would tell myself that there are good things that come out of the trials and tribulations of life, and that one day, life will be so completely different, you don’t even recognize it as the same life you had when you were 12, or 15, or 35. Life is what you make of it, and so is your career, so get out there and enjoy it to the best of your ability. It goes by so quickly. Enjoy the small moments that seem insignificant in life, because those are the moments that mean the most.

And finally, I’d tell myself not to fear the unknown. Every moment is an opportunity to love, laugh, cry, enjoy.

As I take the first steps into the last week of my career, I am excited to start the next chapter. May it be long, healthy and full of fun and love.