The Background Story-is there life after teaching?

My biggest fear when I started teaching (and through my entire 17 year career) wasn't that a child would vomit on me or the principal would spend half a day in my class.  My worst fear from the very start was losing the wonderful career I had and not being able to teach.  I loved my work so much that I regularly feared the situation I now find myself in.  What would happen if I couldn't teach?

Anytime you type "former teacher" into the search engine, you come up with stories of teachers accused of misconduct (ok gross misconduct) and their life is forever changed.  The interesting thing is, all of the stories begin with "accused of" and that is all it takes.  I knew from the time I took my first position (opened in the middle of the year because the teacher was arrested for having relations with a high school student) that my career could be over at the mere accusation of a student, parent, or co-worker who didn't want me around.

This is a lot of stress to carry with you when you enjoy what you are doing so much.  Not only did I need to fear the actions of others, but I consistently needed to self audit my language and actions anywhere I would be seen.  The termination of a teacher holding beer steins in various countries on a Facebook page only added to the sometimes over-whelming fear that something could get in the way of me and my wonderful title of "teacher."

Perhaps in future posts, I can describe the various places I taught which included prek-university with the exclusion of k,6th,9th and 10th.  For now I'll just describe the reason I find myself looking for a life after teaching.

I found myself full-circle in a position of my dreams this year.  I was hired to run the preschool program that was operated by juniors and seniors.  I was to instruct the high school teachers and they instructed the prek students.  I loved everything about this position and was doing a pretty good job despite a few "bumps in the road."  Then the unexpected happened: I became ill. 

My worst fear came true, but not because of anyone accusing me of anything.  I can no longer teach because my body won't let me. 

So begins my life after teaching.  I'm 3 months into my life now and I still have not figured out exactly what comes next. If there is anyone out there who has already made this type of transition, I'd love to hear from you!