I Left Corporate America and This is What Happened….
I did it. I broke those chains; those chains that I allowed to bind me for far too long. Yes, I did it. I left Corporate America. I left it in all of its cubicle glory. I left Corporate America and this is what happened….
If you have read any of my previous articles, you will know that I was miserable. Remember those old Bartles and Jaymes wine cooler commercials? The fictional Ed Jaymes was portrayed by Dick Maugg and although he’s probably best remembered as sitting there “stone faced”, I always felt he looked somewhat miserable. To make a long story short, I pictured my face looking a bit like his did most of the time. Or perhaps even a bit like the character Max Goldman, portrayed by Walter Matthau in the movie, Grumpy Old Men. I’m sure you get the picture by now. In fact, lines actually began to etch in my face, right between my eyebrows in a pattern of perpetual grumpiness or dissatisfaction. I knew it was becoming noticeable because one day one of my friends reached over and moved her finger over them in an attempt to make them disappear. I began to think…was I really that miserable? Yes, I was. Would leaving Corporate America really make a difference? I was not yet sure but, I knew something had to change.
Now before we delve too much into this, I should mention something. Although I didn’t realize it at first, I did later come to know that I remained in this situation for far too long even though I could have changed it. I mean, we all have the power to change a situation we don’t want to be in, even though it may require sacrifices we don’t want to make. There were sacrifices I didn’t want to make. I didn’t want to make the sacrifice of stepping into the unknown and for a while, didn’t want to make the sacrifice of making less money (that eventually did go away because no amount of money in the world could have held me back). So I did it. I spread those wings as large as they would go, took that leap and flew but, what happened after I flew? Was it smooth sailing the rest of the way? I mean, my feet had to hit the ground again sometime.
I made a revelation. First, my head was spinning. I mean, I had just left everything I had ever known and of course I did feel a certain fear. What if it wasn’t my job situation that was making me unhappy? What if it was somehow just me? Well, that turned out to be true in both ways. It was me and it was my job. I had to acknowledge the part that I had played in the whole scheme without blaming myself if that makes any sense. Although I should have left long before, I did what I thought was best at the time and that’s really all we can ever ask of ourselves. Don’t blame yourself for things you feel were mistakes in your life. Look back and ask yourself if a) you did the best you could with what you had at that time and b) what did you learn from it?
I had to create a new story. We all have our stories. We all have that thing that we use to define ourselves, that thing we tell others when they ask us how we are, etc. That story may or may not be a happy one but we’ve all got it. Sometimes we become so entrenched within that story that we are hesitant to let it go, even if it fails to bring us joy because then, then what do we tell people? We become exposed without that story to hide behind. If you are reading this, chances are high that you have become accustomed to your own story. It’s comfortable and it provides fodder and excuse for keeping you where you are in life. Here’s a small exercise to help you to know what your story is. Fill in the blanks of this sentence…. “I can’t leave <insert unhappy situation here> because….”. Now ask yourselves how many times you’ve stated that sentence or something very similar to it. That is your story. Now it’s time to change it.
I found an entirely new world waiting for me. It’s your turn.
