Back in 2021, I wrote about making a major career change.

Prophetically, I stated that I’d have to check back in five to six years to see how that worked out. Well, it’s not quite five years, and unbelievably to me, I am doing it again. I fully expected to ride out the rest of my employable years in the position that I had moved into, but life had other plans.

I wasn’t even looking for a change. My original thought when I’d changed roles back then was that I was already an old dog, and the challenges of learning new tricks in my new role would keep me interested for a while, and then the day-to-day challenges would make things interesting enough to keep going.

After Steve died, though, I couldn’t fathom any more changes, and I welcomed a routine that I knew I could handle. Additionally, I was able to do my job remotely when needed and had the flexibility that allowed me to be mostly available for my kids and their needs. It was a good situation, and I appreciated it.

Then, last summer, an old coworker called out of the blue. Her group was going to have an opening, and she thought it would be a good fit for me. Part of the work I’d be doing was similar to projects we’d worked on before, and we’d done well together in the past. The other part, however, would be a drastic change from what I’m used to doing.

My first instincts were to say, “I’m not rocking the boat. Things are manageable as they are, why mess that up?” But out of curiosity, I read over the job description, and for the next few days, some of the phrases kept popping into my head. Whereas my last job was “getting out of a rut” and “trying something new,” a lot of the phrases in the potential job description felt like they were written about me.

Pros and cons started creeping into my thoughts, and into my work notebook. I knew what I had to do: run it by the troops. Although most of the changes wouldn’t affect the kids, I would be interacting with a more global team and would possibly not be as flexible for them as I have been.

Since A is away at school, and G is heading there next year, their feelings about that were pretty much nonexistent. E was quick to point out that within a year she’d be getting her permit and not long after she could expect to be driving, so the impact to her would also be minimal.

Let me tell you, bringing your kids into this kind of conversation adds whole new level of stress to job applying.

Almost every day, one of them asked if I’d heard back yet. They were all so excited when I got called for an interview, and they were anxiously texting “good lucks” and asking for updates while it was supposed to happen.

While it was “supposed to happen.” Because literally minutes before my first scheduled interview, the company announced a hiring freeze, and I got an instant message that the interview was canceled, and the posting was withdrawn.

Oh, well. That was the Universe’s sign, right? I put the resume back in its folder and went back to work, at my job that I’ve been perfectly happy with. Until a few months later, when the recruiter reached out and asked if I would still be interested if the position reopened. This time, I had no hesitations.

And, so, here we are. Older dog, newer tricks. Again. The last time I made a jump like this, I had Steve’s support behind me 100 percent. This time is a little scarier. Taking a new position when you’re the only income in the house, taking on different responsibilities when you’re still responsible for all the outside of work stuff, completely changing work hours, and potentially adding travel to the schedule, all without the safety net of a partner are all incredibly terrifying. But so is wondering if you missed out on an incredible opportunity that feels tailor made for you.

The kids have stepped up as my cheerleaders, quickly figuring out how to pick up any slack or chiming in with a “you got this, Mom.” It’s been humbling to see how proud they were when I told them I’d gotten the job. It’s nice knowing I still have a team behind me. I’m nervous, but I also know that there is no option for failure. Change is inevitable, both planned and unplanned. New year, new me? Not quite, but new year, new job has a certain ring to it.

Liz Pinkey’s column appears on Saturdays in the Times News