Day 8: Take some time to reflect on your career. Jot down a timeline of it. What was your best experience? The worst? What would you like your future to look like in regards to work?

So, in one significant respect, my career is over. I retired two years ago in two months. I had a good run, but more important, I had the career I wanted because of some of the choices I made early on. There are not a lot of folks who would agree that I had a successful career, I’m sure. I didn’t make rank, I didn’t hold the “leadership” jobs that most officers vie for, but that’s OK. I did what I wanted to do with the time I had. It was my career to do with what I pleased, and did it with gusto. Ha!

Best/worst experiences.

Hmmmm. Where to begin? I’ll say that the worst of times did teach me some valuable lessons, but those lessons reinforce my belief that I did the right thing living like I did. I never want to treat people like I saw some officers treat other people, even if it meant making a sacrifice to my potential for promotion. I never wanted to behave like an asshole for the sake of the next rung up the ladder. So my career paid for it, but I did what was right.

On the other hand, I never really pushed myself to much. I couldn’t see the point of much of the work being done around me. None of it contributing to anything useful, or that would help any unit win a war. There are things I missed out on by taking that path. Things about myself and my limits that I never explored. Kinda wish I’d done that now, but there are still opportunities to push in other directions to test my mettle. The ride’s not over yet.

What does the future hold? Well, let me see. A big part of me is still skating by, not a care in the world, but I know I need to make a few changes in my attitude. Buckle down so to speak. The thing that has changed though, is my outlook. I’m much more optimistic. Not so much about doing constructive, meaningful work, but working both harder and smarter at my job, and getting more satisfaction from working in general. I’m taking work more seriously these days. I’m buckling down so to speak. At any rate, I only see my work, my job, as a narrow part of who I am. It probably makes up less of my self-definition than most adults in my phase of life. I’m not worried about that though, am I? I’ve never been one to take the council of others. That attitude has rarely been to my detriment. I’ve got only one person to keep happy, and I’m taking that job very seriously.