Yesterday, I wrote about my early morning realisation that I didn’t feel lost anymore.
Now that I do realise I’m not lost anymore, I can also reflect on the fact that if I hadn’t quit my job and forced myself to feel uncomfortable and afraid, I wouldn’t be writing this blog right now. I would still be listening to Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle on my way to work; trying to work out why I didn’t feel fulfilled, despite having a job that I considered myself fortunate to have.
For a long time before I was ‘found’, I knew what I needed to do, but I was too scared and comfortable to do it.
And I know I’m not alone.
How many people are content with being discontent? How many people are going to jobs every day that they despise, only to drink it all away at the weekend? How many people spend 50 weeks of the year accepting the misery of the daily grind, hoping that their 2 weeks in Spain will provide enough happiness to keep them going until next year?
That awful feeling – that you’re not only lost, but might never be found – is compounded by the feeling that you have no control over it; when you’re stuck in unhappiness, with no clear way out. Even worse, when there is a way out in sight, but the path is visibly dangerous.
But there’s always a decision you can make.
No matter what situation you’re in, how many people (including little people) depend on you; there’s always something that you can do or a decision you can make; whether this is a huge change like quitting your job; a moderate change like simply applying for another job/promotion that isn’t exactly what you want, but will change your situation; or even a tiny change, like making a conscious choice to put 100% into a job that you’ve been putting 20% into.
I’ve focused on a career-related situation, but clearly this same philosophy can apply to any situation whereby you feel stuck in unhappiness.
Although when you’re in a pit of despair, it can be hard to see this. If you take a step back as an objective observer of your life situation, then you will find that there’s something that you can do, big or small.
If you’re currently too afraid to make that big change, then make a smaller one. You might just find that after this, you gain the courage to make other changes, making the big ones seem smaller. Or even that you no longer need to make any changes at all!
What small/medium/big changes have you recently made? What were the consequences of these changes? Comments welcome:
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