I’m 48 years old and I recently quit my day job and decided to follow my passions without having something new lined up. I know that the golden rule of starting anew is to have your new job before quitting your current one but that wasn’t an option for me.
I didn't just quite my job on a whim
Before putting in my letter of resignation, I spent many sleepless nights asking myself what I should do.
- Am I really so unhappy in my job that I would put our financial stability at risk?
- I’m unhappy, but do I even know what would make me happy?
- What do I want to do next?
- I live in the middle of nowhere, famous for not having available jobs. Shouldn’t I be thankful to have one instead of dreaming of perfection?
- Am I too old for this? Shouldn’t I have thought of this 20 years ago?
I’m the sole breadwinner in a family with a small child, so I can’t afford to just drop everything without making sure that she will be okay. Well, I could, but it wouldn’t be fair to do it without thinking about the happiness of the rest of my family. After several months of sleepless nights, I decided to go for it.
My husband luckily fully supported me, and my daughter is too young to understand much more than “my mom works during the day,” so my family’s got my back. Since I quit, I’ve spent the last 6 weeks exploring my next steps and enjoying what life has thrown at me. One of the things that has struck me most is the reaction of others around me when they found out.
It has been hard to deal with people's reactions
People genuinely can’t believe that I’ve done it and I’ve been faced with a mix of admiration and incredulity. From “What you have done is amazing!” to “You didn’t really do that, did you? I must have misunderstood.” Each time someone reacts negatively, all of my insecurities flare up again, and I ask myself if I’m going through some kind of midlife crisis that will end badly.
Still, for the moment, I keep coming back to the same answers
- No, I’m not too old for this. I wouldn’t have been in a position financially to take this kind of risk 20 years ago.
- Yes, I was unhappy enough to make this move. Since I’ve let go of my job, I am much more optimistic and energetic.
- I don’t know exactly what I want to do next, but I am getting closer every day. In order to get there, I have had to spend a lot of time and energy letting go of society’s notions of right and wrong.
I still don’t have the answers to most of my questions, and doubts about whether I’ve gone entirely crazy still come up almost daily. One thing has become clear, though. Writing about my journey will help me find clarity and direction. I also hope that it may help someone else in the same position to have the courage to take the road less travelled.
Here’s more about what the Road Less Travelled means to me: https://road-less-travelled.com/restarting-career-at-48/