Changing jobs didn’t concern me. It was the lifestyle adjustment that worried me most when I decided to transition from sports writer to a 9-5 worker.
For 11 years, I found comfort in the chaos of the late hours, long mileage on the road and constant deadlines while reporting for newspapers. The only consistency to it was that the schedule was inconsistent. When friends were getting off of work, I was heading to work. Waking up at 10 a.m. and going to bed at 3 a.m. were typical occurrences.
There was a lot that I gave up by working that schedule — time with friends, time with family, time to date, time to run and time to travel at whatever time of year I wanted to rather than when schools went on break for the summer.
Still, the constant craziness brought a certain level of comfort that I’d adapted to. Leaving that behind for normalcy made me nervous as I prepared for my first day of work Monday.
Now that one week is under my belt, I couldn’t be happier.
Numerous changes at my former employer in the short time since I left validated my decision to depart. More than that, so much good happened in my first week at the new job that I couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds.
Sure, I got up before 6:30 a.m. every morning and got to work between 7:30 and 7:45, but that wasn’t a big deal since I went to bed earlier. My new co-workers all are hard workers who have high expectations and expect success, but they also are an incredibly friendly bunch who are patient and eager to help show the new guy the ropes. I got to contribute right away, even if only in a small way. Then, on Friday our department staff went out to dinner, and during those couple hours my belief that I’ll enjoy working with them was reinforced.
Beyond work, I had more time to exercise, went on a date, got to spend time with my family, hung out with friends and ran a 5K with my sister.
Oh yeah, and I also signed up for my first ultramarathon — a 50K trail race coming up in three weeks.
VH-1 might want to consider my story for its “Best Week Ever” program, but I’ll just chalk it up as a great beginning to a bright future.
Week two starts tomorrow.
Chris Wristen 