I Quit My Job

I did it, I quit my job.

I left, a final pause as the heavy iron gate rattled open to let me out, feeling an immense wave of gratitude for what I’d learned, the experiences I’d had, and the people I’m lucky to now call friends. As the gate closed behind me, it trapped the stress from the job inside. Stress that’s no longer mine to carry.

I drove home flooded with emotion over everything that had transpired during my 3 years there. Totally exhausted. The past couple of weeks my emotions zipped all over the place. One moment I was giddy with excitement over the future – Chad and I REALLY get to do this! We’re THOSE people who get to go on the adventure of a lifetime! No more office job! No more (insert mundane task, or difficult situation with member of the public here). Of course, I did my best to exercise discretion during those moments; I didn’t want to annoy my coworkers by being overly giddy. Even though inside, my fists were pumping and the champagne flowing.  

The next moment, I felt sad about leaving. I didn’t hate my job; this wasn’t a “fuck you, fuck you, you’re cool” situation by any means. Part of me even wondered if I was making the right choice. There’s all this talk about trusting your gut, but my gut is a 57-year-old man who sits in the same worn recliner every night snoozing through the same TV shows. All he wants is comfort food and a predictable routine, damnit! I blame him for the bad puns and dad jokes I randomly blurt out, and I knew exactly who was responsible for any resistance and uncertainty I felt.

I think the best reason to quit your job or make any sort of big change in your life is simple. You’ve got a list of things you want to say yes to, and time is running out. Whenever you continue to accept something, keep saying yes to it, you are effectively saying no to a slew of other experiences. If I continued to say yes, yes to a desk, yes to that routine, yes to etching the same path on Highway 50 every day, yes to a life that I’d grown out of and could no longer comfortably fit, I’d be saying no to something I really want: adventure, freedom, growth and discovery.

Of course, this isn’t a decision to take lightly. At this point, we’ve been planning and preparing for almost two years.

I’ve gone from constantly checking the clock to now wondering what day it is. I’m in a weird sort of transition. We are a few weeks away from hitting the road (though the build is taking much longer than anticipated, so who knows when we’ll actually depart) and I’m working on trying to decompress while establishing a new routine. For the first time in a while, I feel free and excited. Everything is fresh and new, the possibilities endless.

Even my gut is on board. He’s turned off the TV and is flipping through…can you guess?

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