It’s Never Too Late

A very good friend of mine is “stuck” in their job. They can’t easily change jobs due to finances/spouse/kids. I feel sad and horrified that my friend is chained to this job like a proverbial slave. To  make matters worse, the workplace that my friend works in does not seem to appreciate the talent my friend has. It’s a weird situation, but my friend is totally wasted at their position. A fine case of not taking the talent available and putting it to it’s best use overall. But, that is any corporate environment.

Thinking of that, I realized that I have started “over” nine times in my life. I’ve changed jobs, moved cities, started school, graduated, started school again, moved cities again. I admit, it has been harder sometimes over others. One time I literally left where I was with my suitcases, proving that material things can be replaced. Other times, I had the largest moving truck available and the boxes to prove it! *whispers* the suitcase move was way more fun and easy, trust me!

What chains us to a job? Our fears? Fear that the spouse will have a kitten if we quit? Fear we won’t be able to pay the cable bill? Or is it a more basic fear of we won’t be able to keep the roof over our head or eat? If it’s the latter, that’s not a fear that a reality check. Do we stay in a crappy job just because we are supporting a lifestyle? More often than not, just from listening to friends, that is the case.

Only time I stayed in a really crappy job: I didn’t want to catch shit from the hubby and I was supporting a lifestyle.  We really didn’t need my job to pay the mortgage/food/utilities. We would not have been homeless nor starved if I had quit a crappy work environment. Eventually, I did the nerve up to quit the job..and guess what…we were just fine. The world did not end, everything muddled along as it had been doing. And I got a much better job in the long run.

The lesson here…is that you can do with a lot less than you think. You can start over in a new job/new town/new circle of friends. It just takes you packing your fears into a box and taking a chance on yourself.

One of my favorite websites is Life Without Pants. I have followed this blog for a few years now and it just gets better with time. Always puts things into perspective for me.