Growing up my father used to tell me that every day was “the first day of the rest of my life”. He would mostly use the expression when I was starting something fresh like the first day of a new school year. The expression always seemed funny but never really had any meaning for me, until today.
As you may know, Friday was my last day at my job in a position that I occupied for the last 3 and a half years. I had a great title and I grew tremendously while I was there but at a certain point, the growth stopped and I felt like I was stuck in some sort of routine instead of being excited about each new project that came along. I had gotten all that I could have from the job and it was time to move on.
This morning, I didn’t have to get out of bed, but without an alarm clock, for the first time in a while, I got up on my own, earlier than usual, jumped out of bed and had more energy than I’ve had since I wrestled in college. I didn’t have to hit the snooze button, rush to the train or sit for an hour and a half on my commute. Instead, I took my son to school, made a real breakfast and helped my wife pack for our big move next Sunday.
All day I was full of excitement for what the future holds because for the first time in years, I felt that I was in charge of my destiny and I am taking control. I broke free of the hold that the corporate world held on me. I feel like the genie in Aladin when he was liberated and was now free to discover the world.
For the next 2 weeks I will be packing, moving, unpacking and settling into my new home in Montreal, Canada. After that I am opening up the virtual doors of Flid Media, a social media consulting company aimed at helping small businesses and non profit organizations use new technology and media to the fullest extent to improve the way they function. Since I will be making my own hours, I will have time to have breakfast with my family take my son to school and not have to rush off to the office hoping that I won’t be late. I will also be working on this blog along with a few other side projects that I’ve been playing around with. I haven’t had much time over the last month to spend on this blog but once I am settled, I plan of giving it the attention that it needs.
Back to the title of this post, I actually felt that today was the first day of the rest of my life because my future is an open book waiting to be written and for the first time in my life, I have the pen and I know how to use it. Everyone can write their own future, it just takes some luck.
Wish me luck!