The Art of Starting Over

When do you know when it’s time to start over? Is there a right time? No one tells you in high school or college that sometimes the career you pick just won’t work out for you. This is not to say that you will be bad at the job (I’m sure that may be the case for some) but I am talking about the job being bad for you. That there can be invisible strings pulling/ begging you to do literally anything else. 

I started to really feel the itch of uncertainty in the summer of 2024. I had changed companies, gave myself time to adjust to the company culture and I still hated the job. Why? I had years of experience, the role was within my scope. I started to find that most days felt like weeks and I felt isolated. My peers love what they do, why don’t I? Am I the problem? In hindsight I was part of the problem, but not for the reason you’re probably assuming. It all came to a head when I realized one week I had cried after work more than I had not. I was going to therapy and working with a career coach but every day I woke up dreading the work waiting for me. It had never been like that before. I was usually a self motivated, optimistic, and happy go lucky person what was going on. At first I thought it was burnout so I took a vacation, but that only made it worse. 

On August 22nd I looked at my husband and said I can’t do this anymore. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. My husband is very analytical and immediately pulled out his finance spreadsheet to see if we could make it on his salary alone. We could but every cent was going to have to be accounted for. Against my better judgment the next day I put in my two weeks notice. I helped them review resumes for my replacement and took a leap of faith. 

This would become my journey of starting over.