Gratitude while FIRE'd

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Another year has come and gone. Last November while watching the sumo tournament, Asanoyama said something that caught my attention. He's been gone from the very top division for sometime and I was happy to see him back. He did well and when he was interviewed after getting a winning record, he said: A lot has happened a long the way, the tournament isn't over yet. So I want to say focused, keep my gratitude in mind and continue giving my best. That is a good attitude to cultivate - an attitude of gratitude.  Last Monday, I stopped at a counter to do a pickup and I realized that people get up each day to show up to work. Later during the week, I stopped by the store to look for replacement bulbs and on my way back to the garage, I saw a worker helping a customer with loading their car and what I felt was gratitude to God. God has been good to me.  I think that sometimes, it's easy to forget the good we have but I think it is important to focus on the good we have, on the bl...
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Do You miss Work after Retiring Early or reaching FIRE?

 This came up just moments ago as I read a message from someone who said work has been really busy today. No, they are not in the nursing field. But it brought back memories - Wednesdays were our busiest days. And I realized I do not miss it - not the people, not the place and not the patients. I miss none of it. 

Honestly, it's been more than 7 months and it doesn't seem like a long time but it's all a blur. It's almost like a part of me wanted to forget and has worked on doing so. I also have to remark that I went from 0 to Burnt out quickly. I realized I could leave and be okay back in September or so. And I was dragging my feet and kinda didn't want to leave. What was I thinking?! 

But between realizing I could FIRE and about 2 months later, I was burnt out. I'll discuss when I knew it was time to leave another time because that is a story by itself. I talked to my manager at the start of February and I'm not sure why I decided to hang around for the schedule that wasn't even out yet. Again, what was I thinking?!

What's kinda funny is that while I aimed to retire early, I didn't anticipate it happening at this age. As I said in my first blog post, I initially aimed for 50 or earlier. And then by early 2022, I saw 45 as a possibility and then early 2023, I saw 40 as a possibility and about 9 months later, I realized that I could do it much earlier and the time had come. So considering I got caught by surprise, I wasn't sure what to do. The weird thing was starting to think that I worked so hard for my degree and didn't feel like giving it up. Nonsense!

My last two months of work, I couldn't wait to leave. I only worked 5 days in February, 3 of which were weekdays. I was part-time and worked Saturdays so the 2 days were Saturday. Yes, back in December, I tallied up my PTO and estimated what I would earn every two weeks and requested time off. I was practically working one day a week so people barely saw me. I'm not the type to hoard PTO. 

Don't forget to plan out your PTO before Quitting your job or getting FIRE'd

Did I have a FIRE number? No. I'm actually realizing that's a thing. I'm glad I didn't because it explains why some people are so anxious on Reddit tracking their net worth and being upset the value of their home went down on Zillow. I don't even include my home in my net worth calculation and I own it outright. 

I left nursing in the hospital and have not looked back. Which is why I mentioned in my first post that if I had to go back to my last day, I would likely have walked out after an interaction I had. Why? Because I knew I wasn't going back and I wasn't going to look for a job to have to worry about references or someone calling the place. That said, I am so grateful to God that he got me out of that toxic place. 

As I've said, Nursing is hard - physically, emotionally, and mentally. It exacts energy from you in so many ways. I don't think the body is meant to do that much physical labor for that long. If I was a new grad possessing the knowledge I have now, I would make a 7 year plan and get out. The Market is your friend😉

Happy Wednesday to all the lovely nurses doing their best to care for patients. My hope is for nurses to attain to Financial Freedom and not be hitched to the hospital.

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