I was kind of forced into making major life changes. I lost what was a really good job at at great company in the only industry I've ever worked in, due to a drinking problem. Getting sober was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, and one of the best. I'm now grateful to the company for firing me and giving me a good enough severence package that I could take the time to get well. I also went inpatient at a psych hospital for 7 weeks which was really scary but helped me to see some patterns in my life that I didn't like and that I want to change. I have really bad social phobia but I'm forcing myself to go out to AA groups and meet people and just this weekend I was at a conference that I'd gone to alone, and I was invited to hang out for the day with a bunch of women i'd gotten to know from different meetings. This was a huge deal for me, becasue it made me feel liked.

I'm now in the final stages of interviews for a job that would be completely different from anything I've done before in a brand new industry. I'm really scared about it. but excited too, because if I get the job it will let me develop a whole new skill set which will help me get an even better job 3 to 5 years down the road.

I've had a lot of change in the past year, but everyone i talk to says that I'm looking better and sounding better than I have in years so all the hard work is worth it.

If you love learning, why not try taking a course, as others have suggested. It doesn't even have to be academic. When i was inpatient I had passes to go home on weekends and over two weekends I took a knitting class & learnt to knit. I now love it and all my friends and family got hand made scarves for Christmas. it doesn't have to be huge even small changes to our lives can make a big difference.

Good luck.

spltimage