Simply Complicated Facts of Life

Why I Quit My Job

There is a big difference between what is seen as appropriate for your life, and what is right for your life. These are all the things that are right for my life - but I have been fearful to go out and get it because I didn't want to lose my supposed place in the world because a job is one of the only places that will give you a title, and financial security is the most talked about 'value' in this culture. But once I realized my life is not valued by what a job defines me as and how much money I make - I put my two weeks notice in without flinching.

Security is a funny word. When we hear it it often invokes the feeling of safety which can mean many different things. What that “safety” is however, I have really come to find over the past couple years. Some examples may be a security blanket – that warm, soft cuddly thing that helps you sleep at night; as well as maximum security prison – something that confines you, keeps you held in from everything on the outside.

I’ve come to find over the years that what I had previously viewed as the foundation of my life – professional security by getting a great job, financial security by getting a great steady paycheck, relationship security by being married at one time – was all actually the wrong kind of security I was looking for in my life. Those first two things especially have never been my top priority values and yet those are two of the biggest things that I am spending the majority of my time and therefore my entire life on. I have been spending all my time trying to feel safe based off of what we all come to believe is expected of us in this world and what is “appropriate” for us.

I’ve learned a lot over the past year about value-based decisions and when my life coach and I first had this conversation he mentioned to me that based off what my priorities and values are in life – I was sitting in the stands and watching my game of life pass me by. My personal relationships and above all things – freedom, balance, and feeling complete were all in the arena and I wasn’t going after it. It took me over two years since that conversation to finally realize how to get in that game, and it has taken me the past year to finally play it.

By staying at MDA I will forever get a paycheck, a 401k retirement, and sit at an admirable point of my professional career. But today I gave up all of that for the promise of something much greater – the opportunity to see my nephew and niece anytime of the day; to travel and see the world and experience life in different cultures; to create a home and not be too exhausted to clean my house, read a book, cook a great meal; I can go home and spend a week with my parents and connect with them in a meaningful way; I can write with absolutely no sense of time; I can go to Vietnam and spend two months meeting my real family and learn more about who I am; I can live my life the way I know it is meant to be lived – on my time.

There is a big difference between what is seen as appropriate for your life, and what is right for your life. These are all the things that are right for my life – but I have been fearful to go out and get it because I didn’t want to lose my supposed place in the world because a job is one of the only places that will give you a title, and financial security is the most talked about ‘value’ in this culture. But once I realized my life is not valued by what a job defines me as and how much money I make – I put my two weeks notice in without flinching.

Learning to make value based decisions in my life above all things has revolutionized my world.  Shoot, it got me to quit my job two weeks ago, leaving financial security and a great position with a very reputable national organization to go after what I really value in life – my personal relationships, freedom, balance and feeling complete.

I know I will fail. I know there will be great moments of struggle, where I’ll get my butt kicked, and where I will question my self worth and my decisions. But I also know that living my life the way I want to live it and the way I know it should be lived is the riskiest thing I will ever do – but above all things, it’s the greatest risk I think I could ever take.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve spent a good portion of my time, soul, brain, and body to MDA and I am proud of the things that I was able to accomplish with the association while there. I am incredibly grateful for the people that I have befriended  over the years – not to mention the tremendous lessons I have learned along the way.  But today I ended a huge chapter in my life- today was officially my last day as the Executive Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

It’s time for me to move on with my life in a big way. It’s time for me to take one of the greatest risks of my life – and that’s to live it.

If this is one of my close friends / family reading and you want to know what I’m really doing after MDA to fulfill the above, keep reading   If you don’t care, you can stop your reading now!

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What I’m doing:

So I officially got hired on as Crooked Trails Executive Director! I’m consulting so it’s a completely flex schedule. It’s the perfect position for me allowing a lot of freedom with my time, but also contributing positively with my skill set to something that makes an impact. I will still be consulting or working part-time for other non-profits that will allow this same mantra (giving me my time, but a place where I can also be committed to and contribute positively). Time is one of the most valuable things in my life, and this really allows me to use time to my advantage by creating what I want with it as opposed to being limited by it. It allows me to put my personal life and personal schedule above my “work”, and allows me to meld my personal and professional life together harmoniously. I’m very excited for this new venture and thank you all for your support! If you want to check out Crooked Trails and find out more about what they do go to:

www.crookedtrails.org

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