…And It’s Time to Say Goodbye

Saying goodbye can be one of the hardest things to do; Especially after you have been someplace for a long time.  Let us face it, change of any sort is not easy, even coming from someone who talks about change, works with change and understands the benefits of change.  No matter how difficult the decision might be and the emotional feelings surrounding that decision, sometimes it is time for a change.  The truth is, it is better to be the one who decides the change than to have the change occur and wonder what happened.  It is always good to move the cheese rather than to wonder who moved it.

For me, I am leaving the company that I have worked at for 16 years – 5 and a half as a consultant and 10 and a half as an employee.  It has been a “good gig.”  I had some goals that I was striving for, some projects that I wanted to achieve and to help the users I worked with move towards better systems.  After 16 years, it is time to strive for new goals, face new challenges and help other people / companies achieve their goals.  I leave on a high note, successfully completing my last international project.  Some of the highlights during my time at ITG:

·        I worked with some good people and made new friends

·        I reached some personal achievements / goals

·        I completely revamped the internal financial systems by implementing world class software

·        I managed international project teams

·        I worked with quality third party partners

As timing is everything, it is fitting that this happens in December.  We have reached the end of the year.  A year filled with many good things and accomplishments.  And as always, whether planned or not, changes occurred.  In the middle of the year, I was elected the president of my synagogue, which has had its challenges and has been exciting thus far.  By moving on from ITG, I know that there will be challenges ahead, but what better way to end the year with the expectation of the next journey ahead, the new opportunities and the excitement of something new. 

2018 has been a good year.  I hope that you all enter into 2019 looking forward to attaining your goals and dreams in the new year.  Happy New Year!

In Training

This past week I found myself sitting in a college classroom.  That is right – student Wayne!  The last time I sat in a classroom as a student was 27 and a half years ago, when I got my MBA going to night school at Fairleigh Dickinson University.  This past week I attended a class at the University of Connecticut.  No, I am not going through a mid-life crisis, looking to find myself or taking on a new degree.  I am at a training course to prepare myself for the next couple of months.  As I sit in the classroom, during a break, my thoughts wonder off on why we learn:  Because our parents told us to go, to learn a skillset or to simply to improve ourselves.  As Jim Rohn so eloquently put it, “Formal education will make a living, self-education will make you a fortune.”

Let’s face it, we all start off going to school because our parents told us to.  I am no different, as I expected Gab and Bec to go to college and “follow the correct path” towards the future.  Education is extremely important.  Both girls, as it ended up, chose different paths and each had unique, semi-non-conventional experiences.  When I went to undergrad, it was because that is what I was supposed to do.  I struggled, but graduated on time from Lehigh University.  I was finished, swearing never to go back to school.  Two years later, I went to school for my MBA; this time, it was for me that I went.  The experience was completely different and I was able to better put into perspective the topics I was learning…OK, and there were less distractions (different topic for, maybe, a different day).

This time around, it is a single, short course to help me.  It is to learn the material, watch how the sessions are taught and walk away with the ability to help others.  I taught for 10 months at a trade school many years ago, teaching book keeping.  I taught the material as presented and added some insight from the real world.  Having gone through some self-education, I should have approached the teaching as helping others to get what they want.  That is what teaching should be about, having the students walk away with something that will help them.  As I looked around the classroom, some things have not changed – some students were there to better themselves, while others were just there.  Maybe it is maturity, maybe it is experience, or maybe it is understanding why I am in that classroom.  Either way, I walked away feeling good about learning new things, seeing the benefit and gaining the ability to help others down the road.

Time Together

Over the past 20+ years, I have had the opportunity to travel a decent amount.  The one definite thing is, while I get to go to some neat places, most of the time, I travel alone.  This means that most of the time I eat dinner alone, walk around in my down time alone and have taken tours alone.  There is no glamour to travel like I originally thought prior to the first business trip I took, which was alone.  You learn quickly, that the plane ride, train or car ride are, in reality, just different modes of commuting. 

I do take some pictures and send them back home, but it is not the same as sharing the experience.  This last trip to Ireland, Debbie joined me for most of my time working there.  Let me tell you – it made this trip special, as it was great having her with me – someone to talk to at the end of the day, have dinner with, and explore together.  The ability to share the experiences together as opposed to relating the experience are worlds apart.  Having my wife, my partner and best friend along, to share, to go on adventures with and create memories together are of great value to us.

It is the precious time we spend together that matters most.  We all have the hustle and bustle of daily life pulling us in multiple different directions, sometime we are running around together, sometimes we do so separately.  Working full time takes up most the day, being involved in areas of interest and volunteering takes up time and having a family rounds out our daily, weekly and monthly time.  It is times like this past week that I am thankful to have married my best friend.  While it is nice to know that we are there for each other, it is cool to create that bubble where the two of us can be together.  Most importantly, a trip together reminds us that we still love being together, having adventures and spending valuable time together. 

Tis the Holiday Season!

Once again, we reach the end of the year.  There is truth to what our parents told us, in that the older we get the quicker time seems to move – even though every day has the same 24 hours!  Starting around Thanksgiving, this is definitely a fun time of the year.  For some, this is a lousy time of the year.  While some people will evaluate what they have not done, others will revel in the things that were accomplished during the year.  Either way, during the next few weeks, enjoying the holiday season will be done side-by-side with much holiday cheer to spread around.

This year, I am apart from my family during some of the eight days of Chanukah.  This is not the first time – sometimes work requires me to travel.  I do enjoy the fact that I can carry a menorah (Hanukiah) with me wherever I may go.  However, it is not the same as lighting the candles as a family, watching the excitement as the girls open theirs gifts, and, believe it or not, watching the dogs wagging their tails with excitement when it is their turn to open a gift.  Before heading out, we kind of lit the candles as a family, even if we had to FaceTime with Bec who is away at school.  Bec is the safety conscious one and always ensures that the candles are properly secured before the first candle is lit.  As when the girls were young, one of them used to blow out the match.  With the distance between us, Bec was still able to blow out the match (yup, some Daddy-magic still exists).

As always, we have choices – either to lament the time we sometimes must be apart from each other, or to hold onto the memories that we have created together.  I always go with the latter.  At the end of the year, the holiday season is a great time to reflect on the previous 11 months.  While the path of least resistance is to “bitch and moan” about missed opportunities, bad choices and spend time playing the blame game, let us all use the time to focus on the things that did come our way this year.  The season of cheer should be filled with remembering the positive things, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem.  This is a good way to reflect on the year and a great way to step into 2019!

Have fun, party responsibly and most important, enjoy your respective holidays…I know that I will as I have many things to be happy about, things I am grateful for and a wonderful family to share my life with.