The end and the prologue

Everyone has been asking me for two days how I feel. How I feel now that I've resigned. Relieved? Excited?

And my answer has always been the same - I don't feel any different really to how I did last week. In some ways, I feel less excited because I no longer have the nervousness that I did. The anticipation of having to hand in my notice. Of trying to speculate the reaction of my managers, whether they would make me a counter-offer.

I have been surprised by the reactions I've had so far. My manager, and his manager told me how impressed they were. Impressed with my 'courageous' decision to leave the company with no job to go to - that I was looking to try my hand at something new and totally different, potentially a new career. They were encouraging and positive for me.
My colleagues, a mixture of disbelief (one still thinks I am winding him up), encouragement and maybe a touch of regret. My friends, bless them, have been so positive and proud of me :) My family, a combination I suppose. My dad thinks I'm stupid. My mum is encouraging but concerned about my fragile confidence (she has been warning me about not setting my expectations too high). And my boyfried, well, I'm not really too sure, if I were to be totally honest. I suspect that he is trying to keep me well balanced and level headed by asking me lots of very sensible questions. Sometimes though, I really wish he'd show just a tiny bit of pride, after all, I have just thrown away a very high paying IT job to pursue a career in patisserie! It takes quite a lot of guts to throw away that kind of money and security.

I'm vaguely aware that I feel rather tired. Mentally as well as physically. I think I need a short break to give me some time to think about my next move. To charge myself. Just need to wait until my end date is confirmed - and then there will be a new beginning...