I remember very clearly, the day I announced to my children that I am going to resign from my job. I wasn’t quite sure what their reaction would be. But the question I got from my younger daughter was a total curve ball.
She asked while chomping on a lavender macaron which I had picked up from her favorite French bakery on my way from work “are we going to be poor?”
I tried not to laugh. But her concerns were very valid.
I went on to explain to her that no, we are not going to be poor. Daddy is still going to work.
However, we may have to give up on some luxuries at least for a sometime. There may not be any cruises and fancy resort vacations. There will be fewer dinners at fancy restaurants and less frequent trips to her favorite French bakery. All this so I get to stay home with them.
Leaving a well-paying, secure job wasn’t an easy decision for me. Trading my steady pay check at a fortune 500 company, for the uncertainty that may last for a long time to come was a risk.
It was a risk I was willing to take, because that would mean I will have more time to spend with my children, drive my younger daughter to her marching band practice during summer months. I will be able to volunteer at their school and in our community.
It has been eight years since I went back to work after taking a 10 year break. I moved to USA on a spouse visa which did not let me work here.
My work authorization came in mail the day after I find out that I was pregnant with my second child. My first pregnancy wasn’t too kind to me. So I made no attempt to find work at that time. It just did not make sense.
After a few seasonal and part time gigs, I finally returned to full time job when my younger daughter started kindergarten.
I guess the decision to resign from a job is a lot less easy when you don’t like what you do. But, I love what I do; I work in my chosen field. I will gladly take a similar job if I ever decide to return to a corporate job.
The pull of enticing freedom that is calling me is much stronger. It would mean I do not have to ask for anybody’s permission if I want to cuddle up with my daughters and watch a movie, on a snowy day when school gets cancelled.
It would mean I do not have to plead for extra week of unpaid vacation to spend some additional time with my family in India. I get to see them only once in two years.
The long anticipated day is almost here. It is my final week. I don’t know how to respond when coworkers ask me if I am excited.
Am I excited, Am I happy? Yes, I am, but it is a bitter sweet feeling. I am excited about the freedom it is going to bring me, but I’m going to miss the camaraderie that I share with my coworkers.
I am at my happiest when I am able to find solutions to problems at hand, and put out fires. I enjoy helping my coworkers and I am going to miss that too.
For now the decision to leave the corporate world seems to be perfect. Only time will tell if it was right or wrong. But unless I actually do it I am never going to find out. I am glad to take the plunge.
The question is not if you can do it or not. The question is how badly you want to do something. If you want to do something real bad, you will find a way to do it, otherwise you will find excuses.
In all likelihood you will be able to find someone who has already done what you want to do. Just follow the path they created. You may have to make some tweaks and improvise here and there.
Do you have a burning desire to do something? Are you hesitant due to uncertainties involved?
You won’t know until you try. There are no guarantees in this world. Only way you find out is by taking the plunge.