I have just come from the last meeting I will serve on the governing body of my church – the vestry is what that’s called in the Episcopal church. I have served for three years – this is my second three-year stint – and I have been responsible for Adult and Children’s Education for these past three years.

I am happy to have served; I am happy to be finished. I am tired. That seems to be my mantra at the moment and that is not a message I really want to be repeating, but the truth is: I am tired. I have worked hard and with enthusiasm for these past three years, and now it’s time to let someone else take up the reins.

I am at a point in my life where I am handing responsibilities over to other people in several areas. I coordinated the BHUSD parenting workshops for ten years, and then it was time to say, “Here you go.” I was the co-founder of a writing group that met for fifteen years, ten of them in my home, and this past year I said, “That’s enough for now.” I had served one time prior on the church council – that time as the president or rector’s warden in Episcopal parlance – and I certainly was ready to hand that job over to my successor! I guess there just comes a time with most things when it is appropriate to pivot and shift, no matter what your age.

Age is certainly part of the equation. There is just so long that you can work on any school-related project. After all, there comes the day when all your kids have graduated. That happened to me and then you find yourself realizing, “It’s a little sad if you’re still here after the kids are gone. It’s time for a different phase of life.”

That’s how I feel now. Not that I will never serve again on the church council. Just not any time soon. Now is the time for me to explore new activities and possibilities, rather than continuing the same old ones.

That’s part of the challenge of being a “young” 58. I hope I’m looking at 30 or 40 years of productive life left. The question becomes what do I want to do/learn/explore now that kids are gone and life is not quite so complicated and I still have good health? Where might I go from here?

I have no idea right now. I am still solidly in the too busy throes of the past few weeks. But at the end of tomorrow, I am officially “off” until after the first week in January. Surely after Christmas, I’ll have time to slow down a bit and contemplate. I would like to do something I’ve never done before: who knows what? I would also like to not over-plan, something I have difficulty not doing. I have always been an adherent to the tenet that an idle mind is the Devil’s workshop. I would like to try out an idle mind for just a little while and make sure that’s actually true.

Either way, tonight marks an official change in my life and I’m glad. I’m happy to have had the chance to serve, but don’t think I mind stepping down. I felt like skipping out of the door.

Life works that way. You are needed and then it’s time for new people to take up the mantle and bring their new enthusiasm to the experience. I have been needed; I will be needed again. But for right this minute on this particular night I can go to bed with the satisfaction of a job conscientiously done. That’s the best I could do and that’s just fine.

And with that I’m happy to say, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”