Contemplation

Gosh, it’s getting tough to write a blog post that isn’t me unhappy or angry about something.  This is probably reflective of the Trump/Brexit world we live in.  And probably also somewhat reflective of my feelings about life at the moment.  I’ve been giving serious consideration to a lot of big questions recently - such as is it too late to change my career and do I still want to live in the US?  (Yes and yes.)  There are things I can consider doing to make things better in the short term (e.g. improve my living situation by finding somewhere new to live), and in the medium term (e.g. try to find a new job).  But whether these address my concerns about my long-term mental (and physical) health and welfare I don’t know.  I have become very worried about whether I’ll ever reach retirement age in good health, if I reach it at all.  And that has nothing to do with diet/exercise, and much more to do with a lack of social support structure and a lack of life goals/purpose.  And this is part of the reason I’ve been giving very serious consideration to taking a sabbatical away from work entirely, especially if I struggle to find a new job in a location I want to move to.  I’m talking about living a year or two in a work-free, stress-free, relaxing manner whilst I still can – doing some of those happy retirement-type activities like travelling, getting out and about, engaging in hobbies and maybe even (gasp!) socializing more.  I think I’d like to use my savings to do that sooner rather than take the risk of my savings going to waste in my later years.  I don’t have the responsibilities of family or a strong attachment to my current job, which allows me to give this serious consideration – I don’t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.  I suspect the latter.