U-turns

Whenever I see a “No U-Turns” sign on the highway, it really ticks me off.  I mean, why can’t I change my mind?  Isn’t that a woman’s prerogative?  To make a U-turn, I reverse the direction in which I was heading.  If I’m going the wrong way, shouldn’t I correct that?

Sometimes, I’m not necessarily going the wrong way, but I’ve forgotten to do some little detail prior to the trip.  Sometimes those little details are quite important.  I have to be able to fix those omissions.  It’s not every day that I forget to pick up my grandkids at school, but if I do, I’m darned sure going to correct it before I get home!

Sometimes the U-turn involves a larger portion of the pie called Life.  A change in career, a change in marital status (just using this as an example, not planning this one, ok?), a change in health decisions, each can be life-changing.  These U-turns must be thought through thoroughly..goodness, that’s a tongue-twister!

Before we bought the house we are currently living in, we looked at several others.  One was in Clifton, almost right across the street from our old house.  I often sat on my front porch and dreamed of how I was going to decorate it.  That house didn’t work out for us, and we had to make a U-turn in our plans.  Then we found a house in Clyde that we liked, and almost bought it, but the money we were planning to use for it was not as much as we had planned, so once more, we U-turned.

When we did finally find this house, I was almost afraid to sign the papers, fearing that another obstacle would jump up and bite me in the arse, and forcing another U-turn.  But soon we were the proud owners of this tiny little house and were busy sorting and packing to move.

I’ve made many career u-turns also.  For a long time, I worked in the same place, but was suffering from burn-out, a professional disillusionment.  I needed a change of pace, a change of location, or a change of career.  I tried the hospital nursing for a few years.  I liked it, but missed my elderly companions at the nursing home.  Now I’m back with them, and happy.  But my health is falling apart, so another U-turn is fast approaching.

Since I don’t have enough money to retire, I’m looking at other options for a career that is not as physically demanding as nursing.  I’d love to open an art shop, selling art supplies and offering painting lessons, but that would be a risky undertaking.

My other option is to buy an existing newspaper, and work at it.  It would have a certain amount of physical effort involved, by needing to attend many functions to cover them with photos and stories.  But it’s the kind of work I really love to do, and it’s not as financially risky.

So, right now, my U-turn is on hold, while I explore all the options and considerations involved.  I’m still working at my nursing job, but it is becoming more painful by the day.  If there were a position in which I could work at a desk with a computer, I’d be much more comfortable.  But that does not seem to be an option right now.  So I’ll continue as best I can.

In the meantime, if I need to make a U-turn in the road, I’ll do so, watching ahead and behind to make sure the Highway Patrol is not watching me, and that it is safe at that moment to turn around.  I certainly don’t want to have to write another blog post labeled “Under Arrest!”