PART 2

I spent the weekend working, preparing for the following week. Yet when I woke on Sunday (the first day of the working week in Dubai) I was gripped by genuine fear. Just thinking of the claustrophobic office environment, all silence save the background hum of printers and people typing, was enough to know that I didn’t want to walk through that door. Didn’t wanted to be ‘greeted’ by a room full of people too busy working on their client’s latest request to even look up from the flickering screens. I couldn’t do it.

I instead drove to a restaurant I regularly used as a weekend workspace. If my boss wanted to call me, let her call. There was no way I was going into the office. I settled down and tried to work. My head was spinning though – not being able to go into work on the first day of the week was a sign that all was not well.

And so I decided to do what your average Millennial would do at a time like this – watch some YouTube videos.

In particular this one

I’d watched it before, but now Alan Watts seemed to be speaking directly to me.

A mere 3:04 minutes later, I knew I had to quit my job. Not tomorrow, not some time soon, and not once I’d got the next job lined up. I had to quit my job that day.

It was time to find a line of employment I was truly passionate about.

Fast forward one year and I am happier than ever, having finally realised my dream of sharing my love of travel with others by leading tours around Central America.

Thank you Alan Watts. You changed my life – here’s hoping you continue to change many more.

For anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation, where they’re not happy with their job and yet are terrified by the prospect of handing in their notice and unsure as to what else they could do, all I say is this – do it. Be brave. Your long-term happiness is far more important than short-term uncertainty. The ideal situation would be to quit and have your next post lined up, but this isn’t always possible. If not, take the plunge and back yourself to find something that will make you truly, genuinely happy.

The inimitable Khalil Gibran put it beautifully –

‘When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music

To love life though labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret

All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible’

Life is too short not to do something you love!!