When I turned 55, everything just changed.
Looking back now, I can attest that there were some big red flags I simply ignored.
I never seemed to acknowledge what was coming at all. I think once the children were out of the family apartment and off to university, I became depressed. That depression deepened when my wife decided that she didn’t want to be married anymore. So we worked on upgrading the Heating, and A/C unit in that household and sold it as part of our amicable divorce. And like every time I faced tough emotional situations, I drowned myself into my work. It wasn’t that I was super passionate about the work I did inside the air conditioned office. That wasn’t it at all. But through all of my adult life, I could lose myself and my worries in my work. It was just one big ignored function really. Well this time, it just didn’t work. One day while on the way to the HVAC office I later found myself hospitalized. I just basically had a breakdown to the point where I was almost catatonic. That was obviously the lowest point of my life. But it was also the door to the most authentic self I could be. Nowadays, I clock a maximum of 80-hour weeks only. I left all the overworking. Actually, I am learning how to start over from scratch in a tiny container home in the woods. I’m also doing some consulting for money only. It isn’t a concern as my life is just so simple. However, I’m happy to have a ductless heat pump for air conditioning. And that’s about as expensive as I get these days.
heated floors