I Switched Career Paths Amidst a Global Pandemic
It’s time for me to take care of myself
Here’s the deal: I’ve spent the last 24 years of my life working for and doing things in the interest of someone else. I have a nasty habit of putting everyone else’s needs above my own. I take things very personally; if someone doesn’t like me or says something rude to me, I spend hours upon hours trying to figure out why and how to fix it. And I’m sick of it.
I like my job. It’s fine. It’s not physically demanding and I generally like my work environment. I learn something new every day that I’m there. I get to help people. That may sound like an okay gig, but I’m not excited to go to work every day. I don’t wake up looking forward to the day.
I know this is a norm for many professionals. Lots of people work jobs they don’t love because, hey, money is money. Let’s be honest with ourselves. But I don’t make very much money in my mediocre entry level job. I make a dollar more than my state’s minimum wage. People have to do what they have to do. You wake up, you get dressed, you go to your 9 to 5, you come home, you go to sleep.
So I was passively looking for other jobs. Applying here and there on Indeed or ZipRecruiter. But then the pandemic hit.
Ten long weeks I’ve been sitting here on furlough from a job that I don’t love, weighing my options. Do I search for a new job that allows me to work remotely? Do I wait this out and hope I have a job to go back to in a few weeks? To be honest, I still don’t know what the right move is.
All I know is my mental health is taking an enormous toll through all of this. There’s uncertainty at every corner. So I’ve been actively applying to other jobs and doing phone interviews.
Why now?
I’ve had a lot of time to think about what I want and what I need. I had to make some choices. I decided not to apply for government aid because I have a second job, which I am able to do from home. So I still had income. I didn’t think I “needed” unemployment. I didn’t deserve it as much as other people who were laid off or whose businesses closed permanently. I was not — and still am not — thinking of my own needs. I realized that I wasn’t going to start focusing on me until I felt good about my direction in life. Cheesy, I know.
If there’s anything I’ve learned over the last three months it’s that I have to be my first priority. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to, and I’m not going to anymore.
