Change Energizes Us (Me!)

For all of my Verizon friends out there, this phrase may sound familiar.  For all of my non-Verizon friends, “Change Energizes Us” was a motto presented by the Company one year which came up in conversation many times.  Sometimes in a positive way, and sometimes in a somewhat sarcastic way.  But today, I believe it is a very fitting phrase for this occasion.

When I started with Bell of Pennsylvania in April of 1990 as a Collection Representative, I could never have dreamt that 26 years later I would be writing a “blog post” about my retirement.  A “blog post”?  This phrase did not even exist in 1990!   And I definitely could never have dreamt that 26 years later, I would be retiring at the age of 49, selling my house and 95% of my belongings, moving into an RV with my wife and planning our travels around the country as full-time RV’ers!  It’s safe to say things have changed in those 26 years.

My career with the “Phone Company”, as some people refer to it, spanned several companies; Bell of Pennsylvania, Bell Atlantic, Verizon, Verizon Wireless.  Covered a couple of states; Pennsylvania, Delaware and Georgia. And a variety of jobs; Collection Representative, Facility Assigner, Supervisor - Loop Assignment Center, Internal Audit (Verizon and Verizon Wireless) and Budget Manager - VZW Network.  But by far, the most important aspect was the long list of great people / co-workers / friends I’ve met over those 26 years.  There were so many it is not even possible to list them all here.  And with the power of Facebook (Just a dream in 1990!), it’s even possible to keep track of some of them to this day.  To all of them, thanks for the support, conversation, guidance, laughs and friendship.

Now some of you out there are doing the math, so I’ll save you the effort and give you some numbers, because I’ve always found comfort in numbers.  I’ve spent 52.9% of my life working full time for the “Phone Company”.  When you break that down, I have been an employee of the “Phone Company” for 9,532 days.  I have been alive for 18,012 days. (Yes, I hit the 18,000 day mark less than two weeks ago without much fanfare!)  It’s now time to get that work percent under 50%.  WAY under 50%!  In the process of doing this, there’s a lot of life to live, things to see, and people to visit.

Back to the phrase “Change Energizes Us (Me!)”  I may have used this phrase in a sarcastic tone when describing the “Phone Company”, but now I really feel it does apply to my life.  This life change they call retirement truly does energize me.  The possibilities, the opportunities, the unknown, all reasons to feel energized.  If it’s half as good as the last 26 years, I will truly be blessed.