Best of luck to you!! Change is very scary! But staying stuck can be scarier. It's better to take the leap of faith and figuring out from there, rather than to be filled with regrets and 'what-if's. Here's to taking charge of your life and making a choice that's right for you :D

Good luck! Just remember you have control over your life and there is always a choice. Stay positive!

Thank you! Glad to know I have a friend like you who will always talk me down when I'm mid-leap and terrified lol

Thank you! You're absolutely right (even when things feel out of control) 😆

I know how hard of a decision this was for you. I hope that once the change is made, you will feel a little less stressed and a little more relieved each day until you reach the point where you are truly comfortable with your decision. It took me months, honestly. I'm sorry that I did not respond again on Discord. My life got really intense and my online time took a dive. You've been in my thoughts, though. hug

Thank you - I know that I can stress out and you will understand. My spouse is calling this a "transformative change" which I think is a bit over the top, but he agrees with you that it will be a slow and substantial change that will take awhile to get used to and feel comfortable with.

Well what it is is very personal. It has been transformative for me, but it's taken time to get there. I didn't just wake up a week after resigning and think, "Ok! I'm a new me and let's get on with life!" It was more like, "Well, ok....what now?"

I've had a few breaks in employment myself and am also currently contemplating a total change! Currently I'm working retail for a thrifting company. Its neat I am largely ok with the customers and I am allowed a bit of a spine. However I've been working retail for 16 years and frankly burnt out on the base aspects of working retail. I'm currently contemplating going to an insurance company that will pay more per hour AND help me become state certified to help with insurance. All I'd be doing for them is basically call triage and getting basic info then sending calls to the right department, but I'm scared to make such a change!

So about the gaps I've experienced. First one i was fired from a large company for not getting enough credit card applications. I simply wasn't going to harass people into something they didn't want. At that time nobody told me what to do or that I qualified for any help. I was still young so my dad just basically let me stew in my issues without any guidance. Eventually a friend noticed and helped me figure a good next step.

My next break was due to being fired from another big retail company. All because I missed going to lunch on time by 1 (ONE) minute. This time I knew what to do so I filed weekly unemployment and got some stuff done for me before accepting another job. It was nice to be able to largely handle things I wanted at the time unhindered.

The next one after that was being fired after a VERY short stint in security work (hence why I'm afraid of leaving retail). I got another job shortly after because this time it was all left up to me to care for me. Mom and dad both passed away at this time. No boyfriend or any family to help me through so I took the first job opportunity that happened. I was terrified I'd be homeless! The phone call came on the day before my phone would've been shut off 😱

The next break was mostly my choice but a bit pushed due to my car tanking out. This time I had a boyfriend who made more than enough to cover the bills. After about 3 months of playing video games, catching up with movies I'd missed because of work and hanging out with friends I was BORED. I was going stir crazy being stuck at home with no car or ways to go anywhere. So I took some of my $$ from tax time and the check i got for vacation hours earned when I had quit and got a car.

Then the break 90% of us got forced into when COVID came around. I used that time to explore a bit more of what I want for me and bonding with what little family that's left. And adding large amounts to my crystal collection lol

Which leads me to currently where I'm considering a job change. But in all of those down times I never stopped trying to take care of my overall business and learned plenty about myself. The two biggest being I simply can't be a homebody and the other is that life doesn't wait so its best to grab what experience you can when its presented. You may not have a chance later on to have the same or similar chance.

I'm taking a sabbatical too to honor the literal Sabbath year. here's some med school lectures and notes if you are interested. I have more, too. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NRyCrbYudzU9_sJ7rZ8JLg2pZMxWzi1Y?usp=sharing