Taking time for yourself is okay, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

My whole life, I have been an avid equestrian. I have been competing since I was twelve years old. At the end of each year, their are a set of national finals called indoors and I had never thought I would qualify. As the standing’s for the finals were falling in my favor, my career was also taking off..
I was a temporary benefits specialist at a great company in northern Colorado. I was fresh out of college at the prime age of 22. Over the three month period, I had grown to like my temporary position. At the end of my temporary position, the company had many opportunities for me to stay.
I now faced the decision of staying on the corporate track or taking time off to prepare for indoors. At first, I thought I wouldn’t have to choose between either, I thought I could balance both. Unfortunately, as I looked at my competition schedule I realized that their were simply not enough hours in the day to dedicate to both.
The decision to choose put me in a panic. I asked myself “What would people think of me as a college graduate who wasn’t working?” “If I continued to work, would I regret not going to indoors?”
The last questions is what weighed on me the most. At such a young age, would I regret not taking an opportunity because it wasn’t the “mature” thing to do? I decided that I wasn’t ready to have regrets at 22, so I sent the company an email that I was going to be taking the next three months to compete.
I was expecting a very stale response. I was expecting them to have the mentality of “We invested time in training this person. We gave her many opportunities and she is going to slam the door just like that.” The email I got back so far from this mentality. This large company with over 50 locations told me they understood my decision. That they were excited for me, and to give them a call when I return to discuss future opportunities.
What this taught me was that even the biggest corporations understand your human. That at the end of the day, you have other wants and ambitions in life then slaving away at your desk.
I think this message is important for young graduates. We get so nervous about finding that one perfect job. The job that will propel our careers onto Forbes 14 under 40 list that we forget why we ever went to college in the first place: to find our passions. There is so much more to life than work, don’t forget to find your work life balance. Even if that means taking some time away from your cubical to find it.