Reflections on a Decade

The close of 2024 is an opportunity for me to reflect on a fairly momentous decade.

No, it’s not the typical end of a decade, like when we rolled over to 2020, or will in 2030. But for me, the fall and winter of 2024 and into 2025 marks 10 years of significant life changes. 

Besides being 10 years older, here are a few:

1. I left the full-time workforce, starting with a leave of absence in November of 2024. I miss the people, of course, and I missed the challenges of my work, but I don’t miss the extreme stress I was under near the end of my career. I traded debt, anxiety, and job stress that led to illness, for an apprehensive new start: less certainty but a new freedom. A scary-at-times freedom. Freedom from debt, from stress, from the hustle and bustle of a city, which also meant giving up some things I love in order to find that new path. 

There are always new things! It wasn’t long before I started my freelance writing business, where I can focus only on writing. I have always loved to write, and I am very grateful to be able to do it on a part-time basis, from anywhere, to supplement our income.  (Read some of my work on my Profile page).

2. We sold our home in Regina to move full time to Saskatchewan Landing — once a part-time “cabin” where we would visit for short periods of time in the summer, and occasionally in the winter months too. It was always the plan to retire there, but I made the leap a little earlier than expected. 

So what happened? I cried when we left the house in Regina, which was more than a house. We raised our son in that home, we got married in the yard, we hosted Riders tailgating parties and hockey windups and Christmas get-togethers, we loved the neighbourhood, we put years of work, love and anxiety into that place. I left my friends, which I had gained over 26 years in one city. 

I’ll always have those friends, and I’ll always have those memories. It took a while to adapt, but I have made amazing new friends, we have a beautiful home, we have added 10 more years of memories to the 15 years we already spent at the Landing, and we have a caring community around us, similar to what we had in Regina. To help me adjust, I worked a couple of summers at the golf course, which helped me meet a lot of people I didn’t get to know when we were just vacationing at the Landing. And I was able to spend time with neighbours who became dear friends.

I love the tranquility of sitting in our yard, looking out over the garden and the birdhouses and the lake. I enjoy time out in the boat, and of course I love golf! We are so lucky to have an incredible 18-hole course, and our games are always full of laughter and fun (and a few curses). It’s been a good change.

3. We started coming to Mexico to spend the winters — 10 years of sunshine in Cabo San Lucas is something I never dreamed of, and yet we have made it happen. We’ve made many friends and lost some of them. We call many Mexicans our friends now, and we enjoy the generosity, love of family, and many other wonderful attributes of Mexican people. We have enjoyed new activities, experienced a new country and embraced its culture, attempted to learn the language, explored the countryside and ate the delicious new food, and also simply lived here. Not everyday is a tourist adventure. In fact, most days are not. That’s OK. I am extremely grateful for my adopted home and hope this life can continue.

I know that life does not stay the same. We are in a state of constant change, and there are good days and bad days. Life contains all levels of happiness, sadness, joy and regret. There are hard times and boring times and delightful times. The greatest delight is in simply living it.

“You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it.” – The Midnight Library