[dingnuts]

Recognizing when life is more important than work? Did you miss the part where his wife died BEFORE "tuning the dial to life"? The lesson you should get from his post is not to make that mistake.

This forum is absurd. I don't need a cancer diagnosis to tell me I'm not living to complete OKRs and quarterly goals.

I'm a good employee and a dedicated worker but my goal since day one has been to do the least shitty job I can land, retire as fast as possible, and get on with the good parts of life. I've had the dial as far to life as possible forever.

But I'm working class, so I can't just retire when I realize the value of my life due to a medical emergency. Being able to do that is not a virtue that should be praised like this forum is doing, it is a gift that should be appreciated for the privilege that it is.

I only pray I can earn enough to turn my dial all the way to life, sometime before my body gives up on me

[brucedawson]

Author here. I do recognize my immense privilege. I was even able to turn the dial a significant distance towards life before my wife died. I had dropped to 80% time (32 hours a week) and stopped managing and was working from home so that I could get almost 100% flexible hours.

But after my wife died even that was not enough. The few meetings I had left were blocking activities I wanted to do, and the job which I had previously loved no longer gave me joy. So, because I could, I retired.

If my wife hadn't died I might have retired at exactly the same time - a 10-year work anniversary is a nice milestone. I almost felt pressured to delay retirement because making major irreversible life-changing decisions after a traumatic life event can be very risky. But I think it is the right choice.