Doom Sayers & cliches
Gezaware,
Quite right about the Doom Sayers, and also some of those all too familiar sayings:
"It's not the same as when I joined up": indeed, change is inevitable, effected mostly by politics, globalisation and technology. If anything, the only constant is change, but it is the same in all walks of life so not necessarily a factor for leaving unless Doom Sayers need to reassure themselves that it's a valid reason for them. And what about those studies that say that reluctance to change is directly proportional to increasing age ......
"I left at the right time": of course you did, except for some of those that didn't and came back in again (and some do). You made your choice based on work/life balance, conditions of service, interpretation of covenant etc at that time. But you don't have to prop up the bar convincing others (or yourself) that you left at the right time, because everyone else actually left at "the right time" too.
Hat on, grabbing coat