Time For A Cool Change

I have made a lot of changes in my life over the course of the last three months. Some radical and others so subtle that they have hardly been noticeable. I have moved into a new house in a new town, I am in a relationship, and I have tried to make philosophical changes to my outlook on life. The one thing I did not change was the company that I have worked for in different capacities and in different cities for 26 years. That is the thing that probably needs to change the most. I always use the movie The Shawshank Redemption as a reference. Morgan Freeman's character says that he has been in prison so long that he is "institutionalized." The only world he has known for 30 years has been the inside of the prison. I am not comparing my 26 year career to a prison sentence because I have chosen to be there and they have chosen to keep me around but I am institutionalized. That is the only career I have known and I feel comfortable in that world. I have never challenged myself within that world to do more or to be more and I have also never stepped outside of that box. The only time I stepped outside of that box was when I received my Master's Degree but that became more of a hobby than a means to an end. Academia is the other world that I feel comfortable in. It is time that I challenge myself to do more and to be more and most importantly, to be happy in what I do.