I have been encouraged to begin blogging again so I’m picking up where I left off following the election period of last year. I’m in the midst of a significant life change in that I retired effective July 1 after 36 years in Downstream operations at a major oil company, and have been working through a process to figure out my next career. I’ve put off the blog a bit and spent the summer outside, but it’s time to get to work on figuring out what work looks like for me going forward.
I’m blogging my experience for a couple of reasons. I’m sure I’m not the only person retiring or working through some other life change. Maybe my experience could be helpful to someone else. I’m sure to benefit from anyone who happens to read this and has something to share. And writing it out helps me to sift through it in my head.
So, here goes. I’ve made the conscious decision to put off getting into another role in the industry that has been home to me for all of my working life. I want to be very deliberate about exploring my interests and finding a direction that “lights me up”. That means I will likely be all over the map for the next little while.
The process of evaluating my vote highlighted a couple of things for me. It ignited a smoldering interest in politics and leadership and reminded me that our moral obligation to care for the poor of our world is not limited to me or my church. It is the responsibility of all of us. It has also impressed on me the importance of the fact that politics is more about investing long term in the relationship, not just checking in for a few minutes every election cycle. So I will be exploring poverty, economics, politics, church politics, interfaith relationships …….. I need to get to work.
“You must be the change that you wish to see in the world”. It’s a quote that is attributed to Mahatma Ghandi and a line that resonates with me. One of the things that struck me during the election was the fact that politicians are not able to make effective change in isolation. We are all leaders to some degree. We all have a sphere of influence and we need to be mindful every day of the impact that influence has.
I want to figure out what my role is and where my heart and the whispers I hear from the Spirit will lead me. And I hope I will be able to keep it engaging enough to make it valuable to others as well.