Why Quit?

Being good at something or successful at something doesn’t mean you find satisfaction in it. This is no secret to most of the world, but it took me years to understand and accept this.

I went to college to be a teacher. I went to graduate school to be an administrator. I made plans, set goals, and achieved them. This is who I am. It is exhausting to tolerate me and my personality. I do not know how my wife does it, but she does. She is a saint.

The goal defined me. I set my path and it wasn’t in me to stray from the plan. The seed for this blueprint was set in my wise adolescent mind at the ingenious age of 15 when I awkwardly tutored a pretty blond girl in Algebra and realized how fun and rewarding it was to teach someone something.

As a teacher, students came back to me to tell me they were making A’s on all of their college papers and thanked me for my work teaching them to write. They trusted me with their problems. They knew I was stern, strict, and held high expectations, but they also knew I treated all of my students this way and wanted them to maximize their potential.

As an administrator students and parents trusted me because they knew I treated them fairly, equally, and did not make decisions based on race, color, creed, or economic status. This did not always make me friends, but it made me dependable.

My mission in education was to act with integrity and honor in pursuit to educating children who would become self-sufficient, independent, contributing members of society. I carried out that mission the best as I could.

Yet, my tenure in the world of public education left me wanting.

The wanting had me chasing fulfillment in promotions and advanced degrees, but the chase had to end. I became a principal. I was in charge of the entire school. I made the rules, changed the rules, improved the policies, guided the students, and lead the faculty and staff. I listened to the needs and improved the school. I made a difference in my students’ lives and the lives of my employees. But, it did not make a difference in me. I felt empty, unchallenged - or not challenged enough.

During my years in education, I passed on several opportunities to leave the profession because I was a coward.

When I first began the profession, I started a landscaping company and paid off all of my debt in 7 months. I could have turned it into my sole profession, I was scared to leave my small, but steady paycheck.

While I was teaching, I became a freelance writer for a weekly newspaper. My editor offered me an opportunity to be hired as a staff writer for a daily paper, but the salary was less than my meager teaching salary, and I would have to move. My simple-minded youthful brain passed on this amazing opportunity because I did not want to make any less money or move from my current town a whopping two-hours away. No risk, no reward.

I considered applying for the FBI, joining the military or the reserves, but I met a girl (not my wife).

The excuses to remain in education continued to stack-up with the years, as did the regrets for not taking the leap.

Fast-forward to 2018: Opportunity knocked yet again. This time in the form of a sales job. I would not allow myself another missed opportunity or thought of what could have been. With the unwavering support of my amazing wife, I took the leap.

It has been 2-months, and the entries here will chronicle the more interesting and humorous visits I make into people’s homes.