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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What I did my first week after FIRE

 Nothing really. 

I rested. Lots and lots of rest. Eating, snacking and rest. 

It was like a burden was lifted off me. I felt like doing nothing but just living. I relaxed and just enjoyed the peace. I think my alarm still came on but I was under no obligation to get out of bed if I didn't want to. It was surreal in a way. 

Another thing I did was start an exercise regimen. I figured it was the least I could do. I just wanted to keep active and I'm happy to say I've kept it up. I'm really proud of myself. For the most part, my goal the first week was to rest and recuperate. I did nothing my last day of work. There wasn't a single patient for us. I worked about 4 hours 3 days before that so it wasn't fatigue but there was some amount of burn out and just wanting to have an emotional rest that had nothing to do with nursing. 


One of the things I did that week was contact my 403k custodian. I was told they had me as still active. I thought to myself that maybe it takes days. Another weird thing was that I was still able to access my work email 🤔. I thought that was odd but okay, maybe they'll deactivate it later. It was interesting because they had a citation from the Joint Commission and saw the remedy they were taking regarding every person on the unit. Boy did I dodge that one😌. So I was able to see what was happening with the hospital via email. It was weird because another person left shortly after I did and I could tell they had been removed from the group email but I was still on there. 

Anyway, I checked again that Friday and it showed me as still active in the Custodian's portal. I called Empower and I didn't get much. I think I contacted them again the next week. Long story short, my manager forgot to tell HR that I left🤯. I'm not kidding. I gave her more than 2 months heads-up. Take this from me: Do not tell them ahead of time. If I had to do it again, I would've given a 2 week notice with some lame excuse and been gone. I actually was honest with her about FIRE and I'll talk about the reaction another time. I didn't tell anyone else although I realized she told another person. So it took about 4 weeks because I called HR and the woman said I was still an employee. Huh?😮 The weird thing is that my HSA was aware that I left though what was there was a refund from Sams club for about $15 or so. That whole thing was a mess. HR asked me to contact my manager and tell her what to do and that's when she told me that she was expecting HR to do it. I got the impression from HR that it was something the manager does because HR gave me the exact words to tell her. 

my manager forgot to tell HR that I left🤯

There is some good about that situation because there was something in my work email that I had forgotten to download and since I had access afterwards, I was able to access it. I had also cleared my work email but I was able to restore and then clear it again. It was also kinda interesting watching the drama unfold regarding the Joint Commission citation via email. It was like reading a story via email and watching the drama unfold while no one knows you have access into the happenings. I couldn't have picked a better time to avoid that stress😌. I've actually forgotten about what the citation was about. I recalled it while writing this blog. I really haven't thought about work. It's almost like an old dream now and I'm only 8 months away. 

So to recap,

  • my goal was to rest and I did lots and lots of that.
  • I contacted my 401k custodian.
  • I enjoyed eating and snacking 😋
  • I checked on my HSA
  • I started an exercise regimen🏋
  • And I grabbed some 🍿 and watched the drama unfold via email from a JCAHO citation. That was interesting. I'm glad I dodged that one. 

If you have FIRE'd, what did you do your first week? And if you are hoping to FIRE, what do you plan to do your first week off? You are welcome to leave a comment below. 

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