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MIDLIFE CAREER SHIFT BRINGS PROMISE

My First Career Appears To Be Dying

Now all I have to do is decide when to pull the plug

Michelle Marie Warner
Contemplate
Published in
6 min readDec 27, 2024

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Illustration with red, pink, and yellow spots and question marks, with a black stethoscope, white pulse, and red heart over it, in front of a pink background
Illustration by geralt on Pixabay

My career is on life support, waiting for me to make a choice. Do I keep trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole, or call it quits?

I think it’s time to pull the plug.

I used to support disabled adults and children who were often profoundly troubled. Admittedly, it used to thrill me to immerse myself in such an intense space. If you’re looking for a challenge, take a job in behavioral health, and you’ll find them in abundance.

Like many coworkers, I drank and used drugs to blur or block out the mental and emotional strain. Now that I’ve been sober for almost 21 years, the position is no longer a fit.

My clients, coworkers, and supervisors went too far one too many times. I saw the problem more clearly once I got sober, and recognized the need to set boundaries. I was no longer willing to work with anyone who might inflict verbal or physical violence on me or others around them. I no longer tolerated unreliable or mentally unstable behavior from coworkers.

That left out a lot of clients and companies.

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Published in Contemplate

Reflections of the Mindful — A publication designed for the writer to reflect, the reader to be inspired, the creatives to find their muses.

Michelle Marie Warner
Michelle Marie Warner

Written by Michelle Marie Warner

Grateful, sassy, sober GenX mom with plenty to say and enough energy to listen. Learning to laugh a little more as I age gracefully. Bring it on.

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