MyWell BuiltLife

That's me on my 59th birthday, laughing at a cake covered in sunflowers. I'm calling this next chapter Me-Tiring. I'm leaving my job a little early to spend more of my time on me: learning, building, moving my body, and the people and things I love.

The first question everyone asks is: what about health insurance? Fair question. It's the thing that keeps a lot of us at our desks longer than we want to be.

What I found on the Marketplace

So I did my homework. I shopped the Marketplace and learned that plans come in levels: bronze, bronze plus, silver and gold. For one person, the bronze plan I looked at is about $700 a month. Silver is about $900 a month.

After staring at them for a long time, the difference came down to two things: the deductible, and prescription costs. I don't take any medications, so the extra I'd pay for silver mostly buys coverage I wouldn't use. I'm leaning toward bronze.

My plan

First, I'm doing all my doctor appointments now, before I leave work. Every checkup, every screening, while I still have my work coverage.

Then the unglamorous stuff, every single day: salads, protein, exercise, water, and good sleep. I'm banking on it.

And if the money gets a little tight? I might drive for DoorDash or pick up random gigs. I'm not too proud for that. Honestly, it sounds kind of fun.

I Believe

It's all a little up in the air. But I won't let the cost of health insurance keep me from spending my time on the things I love. I said it during the Mill Hollow Project and I'll say it again now: I BELIEVE.

If you're doing your own math: this is my situation, not advice. The right plan for you depends on your health, your prescriptions and your budget, and prices vary by where you live and your income. Get your own quotes.

Bethany

One of the things on my list for life after December 31st is going back to school. Not for a degree. Just to learn. And the class I keep coming back to is astronomy.

I've spent most of my career looking at what's right in front of me: the next meeting, the next flight, the next quota. I'd like to spend some time looking up instead.

Skidmore College, right here in Saratoga Springs, lets people from the community audit classes. Auditing means you sit in, do the reading, and soak it all in, without the pressure of grades or exams. You ask the professor for permission first, fill out a form with the registrar, and you can audit up to two courses at a time.

Here's the part that made me smile: for alumni and anyone 55 or older, a regular course costs $25 to audit, plus a $25 registration fee. That's less than dinner out. (Studio art and performance classes cost more, and some courses have lab fees. Check Skidmore's audit page for the current details.)

I'll admit I'm a little nervous about sitting in a room full of twenty-year-olds. But I've been the newest, most out-of-place person in a room before, and it's usually where I learn the most.

There's a day in the journal called Wonder. It asks when you last felt really small in a good way. For me it's standing outside on a clear night and realizing how much I don't know. I'd like to know a little more.

If you're in the area and thinking about auditing a class too, tell me. Maybe we'll end up in the same lecture hall.

Bethany

I have a name for myself: I'm an 80%er. I get a lot of things really close to done. The idea is exciting, the start is easy, and somewhere around the last stretch I lose the thread and wander off toward the next shiny thing.

It makes a lot of sense when I look at my Enneagram. I'm a 7, the Enthusiast, and my motto is Find the Fun.

The good stuff

Sevens are the people who say yes. I love new ideas, new places and new people. I'm happiest in a room full of conversation, and I'm usually planning the next get-together before this one is over. I'm curious about almost everything, I bounce back fast, and I can find the bright side of a bad day. When I'm excited about something, I can get other people excited about it too. That served me well through a long career in sales, and it's a big part of why I love teaching and presenting.

The not-so-good stuff

The same spark has a flip side. I get distracted. Easily. I start three things when I should finish one. I'd rather plan the adventure than do the paperwork that comes after it. When something gets hard, boring or uncomfortable, my first instinct is to go find something more fun to do. And I can say yes to so many things that I'm spread too thin to give any of them my best.

It all comes from the same part of me. The spark that gets me started is the same one that pulls me toward the next shiny thing.

For a long time I treated that like a secret, or something to fix. I've come to terms with it. It's all okay. :-) And I'm learning that it's more common than any of us admit, and that saying it out loud takes some of the power out of it.

Why I made the journal (for me, too)

Here's my confession: making this journal was the fun part. Using it every day for ninety days? That's my last 20%. I fully expect the 7 in me to get restless around week three and start dreaming up the next project.

So I built it for someone like me. One page a day, about ten minutes, the same three questions: what I'm letting go of, what I have to get done, and what I'm grateful for. Nothing to figure out. A small, repeatable thing is easier to finish than a big impressive one. There's even a little box on every page called Notes from an 80%er, because I know exactly who's going to need the pep talk.

And doing it alongside other people makes the last 20% a lot less lonely. Sevens do better with company anyway.

If you're an 80%er too, you're in good company here. We'll work on the last 20% together. And if I go quiet around Day 21, somebody please check on me.

Bethany

After thirteen years at Source International, my last day is December 31, 2026. I've spent those years in contract furniture, ten of them traveling the country as National Sales Manager, and the last stretch as East Coast Sales Director.

People keep asking if I'm retiring. Honestly, I don't know. It feels more like stepping out and taking a breath. So I gave it my own name: Me-Tiring. I'm leaving a little early to spend more of my time on me: learning, building, moving my body, and the people and things I love.

I like to learn, and I like to build things, and I want room to do more of both. (If you're wondering how I'm handling the practical side, like health insurance before Medicare, I wrote about that in Me-Tiring (a little early).)

What I do know is what I want to protect: time at the gym, on the yoga mat, and eating well. Time to write again. Time with people I care about. Everything else I'm figuring out one choice at a time, and I'll share it here as I go.

Bethany

Years ago I took on the Mill Hollow Project: bringing abandoned buildings from 1790 back to life along the Battenkill River in Greenwich, New York. My motto the whole time was two words: I Believe.

Old buildings are honest. They show you exactly where the work is. There's no shortcut, just one repair after another until one day you look up and the place is standing again.

I think about that a lot now. Rebuilding a life at any age works the same way. You don't fix everything at once. You start with what's in front of you, and you keep showing up. That's where the name My Well Built Life comes from.

Bethany