Face the bitter reality, but keep hope.
I quit my job, the job I wanted ever since I started law school. A big firm, fancy office, seemingly important work, important attires, and big meetings in fancy places. I got it. I left it. Why?
Reality. Stone cold. Bitter hard. Fact spitting Reality.
Yes, I got the work, the attire, the urgency of some important deadlines, but what else did I get, if you may ask? Late nights, unimportant tasks, rude bosses, feelings of being insignificant in that “huge” place, never-ending soul-crushing work, and lack of purpose or motivation.
Every single second felt meaningless. Every single minute, a prison cell. Every hour felt lonely, and every day a living hell.
There was nothing left to do except to stick around, hoping the promotion or the following few years might help me feel all that I had hoped. But I guess I always lived in a small bubble of my own making, for it never did.
Friends, family, roommates, and even strangers mocked my idea of what I wanted in life.
“Work-life balance is a myth; you are too delusional to even hope so,” I was told.
“Stick around till you become a senior associate, and you may relax,” said another.
But the prestige of the job, the years of study leading up to it, the connections I was making, the efforts I was putting every day, were not worth even a single minute if I was not well, and I wasn’t well, neither physically nor mentally. I gained 15 kgs in 2 months. My mental health was down the rabbit hole. And my environment was as toxic as it could be.
So, I wondered if there’s an issue with me? Am I too weak to handle so-called “real life”?
All that I had forced myself to learn about life so far faded in a snap. People and the environment around me made me believe that I was stupid to expect anything other than what was served or experienced by most of them.
You know what, maybe I was too weak or too delusional, but after it reached my threshold, I decided to quit and return to my delusional life. Guess what I found?
Peace.
Yes, problems exist even today, and I question myself each day if I did anything wrong, but when I look at my health and mental well-being, I know I made the right choice.
I am not saying it’s always about a job, or that people must quit without any plans. I am aware of how privileged I was to even have that choice. But I will say this: if you have that choice to leave that relationship, that job, that situation, that place, do so with no guilt.
Be delusional.
Life will continue, whether or not you stay in the chaos.
You will find a new plan, a new perspective, a new direction, but for that, you have to be willing to leave where you are stuck.
It will be ugly, you might feel left out, like you are doing something wrong. You might feel alone, lonely, even scared sometimes, but if it serves you in the long game, then why not leave, why not take a chance?
People around us speak from their own experience, while they might not be wrong, they might not always be right. Only you hold the power to decide what’s right for you. Stop listening.
Hi all,
It was a big intro, I know. Welcome to another snippet of the motivation blog. Topic today, as you have guessed, is “To choose your delusion over the overfed reality of others”.
I read a book today, which said the same thing as those people when I was leaving the job, :
“Work-life balance is a myth for freshers”,
“Freshers these days are lazy and quit easily”, etc, etc.
While I resonate with most of the book, this one chapter felt different. I wanted to believe the author and the people around me. But something was stopping me. While I was laden with self-doubt, the voice of my soul spoke louder.
Maybe work-life balance is a myth.
Maybe I am wrong.
But I can choose where I want to work.
Maybe that industry, that office, that environment that led me to just deep ends, isn’t right. But none of these people, nor the author, know my story.
NO one can know my story completely other than myself.
Maybe I am ready to work 20 hours for a project or industry I am respected at or am passionate about, maybe I don’t even need to put 5 hours in another place. But instead of pushing me to find better opportunities that align with my personality, choices, and circumstances, I was pushed to be in the same rat race. And I chose to believe that was my only choice.
It was only when I decided to look at hundreds of people other than myself that I was surrounded by, that I realized reality can be very subjective.
Many young influencers work way less than people with top degrees and earn a hundred times more. No one is right or wrong; they are just making choices they know best. And you and I are given the same choice, every single minute.
Choose your reality without focusing on the noise around you. Do what you think is best for you.
Most importantly, if you have crazy plans for life, know that these obstacles are there to challenge them, not for you to give up and settle for anything less. Universe doesn’t give you any situation you can’t handle. How you handle it is up to you.
Self-doubt, insecurities, bad situations, and people trying to bring you down to their reality is common with everyone; it comes with any sort of career, relationship, or event in life.
Just know, you have a voice that can be louder than the world. Any reality you choose to see, was once a delusion.
Like me, choose your delusions even with thousands of voices telling you otherwise, even under pressure, even when you feel like you are at fault, push through and see it coming true.
Some tools that do help are vision boarding, solid goals, following people who resonate with your goals, journaling, changing how you talk to yourself, visualization meditation, and, lastly, following your heart.
Take a first step in the dark and see the light guiding you to a whole new path.
I wish you to be that brave today and leap out of the reality you have been served and choose what you desire on a soul level.
Thank you for reading..
Catch you in the next one.
Being a lawyer myself, I can vouch for that it is anything but winning a lottery ticket or peaceful. Your blog shows the real side of this profession. I also liked the quote, “Universe doesn’t give you any situation you can’t handle. How you handle it is up to you.” looking forward to more
Thank you!!