Catching My Breath

Hello Everyone!
About a year ago, I made a controversial decision to stop and catch my breath.  I was a professional accountant working long hours at a large company.  It seemed my life had rolled from high school to university to career and kids with never a break.  I was always very achievement motivated and ambitious and I seemed to run at full speed regardless of what I did:

• I studied long hours at university, earning the Dean's Medal for highest marks in my graduating class;
• I completed the courses and exams for the Chartered Accountant designation in a single year (one of only 8 people that year in B.C. to achieve this);
• I landed an entry level position in a big energy company and within 8 years I was running a multi-million dollar project, travelling around North America, speaking at conferences, bringing home hundreds of thousands of dollars a year;
• I was one of few people at my company of approx 5,000 people selected as a successor for a prestigious V.P. role;
• During all this, I was blessed to give birth to two wonderful, bright, energetic boys; and
• I ran two half marathons.

All of this took tremendous effort and push.  To say I was busy was a monumental understatement.  People wondered how I did it - I was asked to speak at seminars on work/life balance.  People envied my success and my prospects.  They thought I had it all figured out.

And then one day about a year ago, I stopped.  I left my job to do ...  nothing.  To be honest, at the time, I really didn't know what I was going to do or even really why I felt compelled to quit everything.

Looking back, I see I was a little burned out.  Ok, maybe a lot burned out.  I needed some space to just be me, to figure out my priorities and then focus on what was truly important to me.  To just catch my breath.