I'm back! And with a whole lot of changes

photo credit: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-reasons-why-you-need-switch-new-job-now-greg-brown

In my last post, I let you know that I was taking some time off for myself because I wasn't happy. 

It was more than being unhappy. I was in absolute misery. 

Imagine being 32 years old. You're single. You're in a job that is so full of bureaucracy and bull shit that you're disgusted on a daily basis. You don't feel like you're growing in your career. You're surrounded by a lot of fake people. Your job eats up so much of your time that you barely have time to look for a new one. 

So what do you do? 

You quit. 

That's right. I quit my job. Literally. I walked. I jumped out of the plane and I had no idea what color my parachute was. 

I'll never forget how I felt when I walked out of that building after I quit. It was the best feeling of relief. I was now free to shape myself in the all-American pursuit of happiness. 

The following day, my office announced my departure in an email. My cell phone became flooded with messages from people asking why I left. I hadn't really told anybody what I was feeling. Some people took it personally and felt offended that I didn't say anything to them. Others wanted to see how I was doing. Then there were the gossips - those who barely said two words to me while I was there, and suddenly were interested in knowing all about me. They just wanted intel to go back and feed back to their gossip lines. Remember what I said before? Lawyers love three things: alcohol, sex, and gossip. 

I didn't want to respond to anybody. So I didn't. This period was going to be all about me, without anyone questioning me, without anyone offering me unsolicited advice, without any negativity. My life was about to go on a wild reset. 

My new full-time job was deciding what job I wanted and how to get it. I went about researching, asking questions of people in the field, and applying to jobs that I wanted. After a month, I got an offer with a start date a few weeks later. 

I've been at my new job for a while now, and it's much better pay, much less stress, and my co-workers are fabulous. I'm learning new things, meeting new people, and I'm excited about the future.

Not everyone from my old life decided to walk with me into my new life. A lot of people, for whatever reason, stopped talking to me. Part of me wonders if it was because of politics. In my area of the world, there's been some campaigning occurring, and people are taking sides. One of the candidates was someone I worked with and remained friends with. A lot of people didn't like that, so they dropped me. Unfortunately for them, I am fresh out of f*cks to give. 

My work life isn't the only thing that's changed. 

The love department has been cooking up a storm. 

After I got more settled in at my job, I decided to start dating again. I've met someone that I really like. It's only been a couple of weeks, but I think this can really go somewhere. We'll see where things go. 

There's something to be said for taking control of your own destiny. I got stuck in this mentality that I couldn't move forward, that this was the life I was condemned to live. One day, while I was out running, I thought, Why? Why does it have to be like this? Why can't I break these chains? 

I did what nobody was expecting. I broke the chains. I left behind the negativity. I cut out every single person and voice that was holding me back or who made me feel bad about myself. I was sick of it. I was sick of all of it. I moved forward. 

And guess what? 

I'm not looking back.