No Turning Back

When I first contemplated retirement, I had thought that I might like part-time work during the non-camp-host seasons.  I thought it might be kind of fun to take on short-term consulting jobs.  To that end, I’ve kept up my professional certification (Certified Information Systems Security Professional –CISSP) for the three years that I’ve been retired.

Three years – wow!  Has it really been that long?  Why, yes, it has, and during that three years I’ve done exactly zero consulting jobs.  In fact, every time I think about a job, I think about how much it would interfere with my free time.

I’ve crossed the threshold into real retirement – to the point that I’m not even using some of my free time to take the online classes required to keep my certification.  But there’s still a small part of me that just doesn’t want to part with the credential.  Part of me still thinks that if I give it up, I’m giving up the part of my brain that is relevant.  Part of me just doesn’t want to accept that if I do this I may never be qualified for a job in my industry again.

The part of me that is in charge of reality checks stepped in.  “Cheri,” I tell me, “it doesn’t matter.  You don’t ever have to work again.”  And yet I’ve continued to struggle with this decision.

The drop dead date has arrived.  As of today, I have exactly 28 days to complete 20 hours of continuing education.  It’s not going to happen.  I’ve known all year that it wasn’t going to happen.

I took a deep breath.  I wrote the following:

To the Management of ISC²,

The time has come to really retire.  Effective immediately, I surrender my CISSP certification.

I am honored to have been counted among the elite security professionals achieving this certification and proud to have been affiliated with ISC²

I sent the email today.  No turning back…