Quitting my job, good luck? #GoodLuck

There comes a time in your life when you decide enough is enough. It can be for anything- a situation, relationship, start-up or in my case, job. After working for 2-3 years at an organization, I decided to move on. The decision was made in my head. Physically, I still dragged my feet out of the bed and went to work each morning. As a married guy with parental pressure (unknown to them about the pressure) to look “good” into the eyes of the society, it is never an easy decision to act upon.

To add insult to my “injury”, I had taken tuition reimbursement from my employer to the tune of $19,000. If I quit my job voluntarily, I would have to give that amount back. The other option was to work for 4 years after completing my MBA and then $19,000 would be forgotten about. As any sensible person, I started to imagine my life for the next four years. This started to give me chest pains. Initially they were rare. As I started going to work each day with heart somewhere else, the chest pains got frequent. Then, my breathing rhythm became abnormal. I had to breath so deeply, it would hurt my stomach area.

While driving one day with my wife seated next to me, I started complaining about the work. She was getting used to my whining as I took notice of her disinterest. I told her I don’t want to go back to work tomorrow and that I want to quit right now. What happened next was very dramatic.

I started breathing very heavily, Then, I immediately went to the nearest Wal-Mart where my wife gave me a bottle of water to drink. The situation was so tense that I had to spit out all the water before it could run down my throat. Then, I went to the washroom in the store. I thought I felt relaxed. Right then, I started feeling dizzy, chest pounding. I felt I was going to die. I told my wife to call 911 as I am about to die. I thought I was suffering from a heart attack.

The paramedics rushed and I was taken into emergency care. The doctor took care of me and told me that the problem is not in your heart, but in your mind. There I lay there on the bed and tears ran down my cheeks. I realized my mistake of not quitting the next moment I had thought about it. 

The very same moment, I decided to quit. The reason was loud and clear: if I didn’t quit now, I would stop living, so to speak. I wrote a letter next day where I mentioned my deteriorating health condition as a reason to quit my job.

This meant that I was relived from my $19,000 debt and a job that I wasn’t really interested in. Sometimes, bad health can also be lucky.  

They did send me a bill for the debt after a month, but I called them up to know my involuntary reason to quit my work. 

Now my health is just awesome! I feel alive and much more aligned to my thoughts on how to live life. 

Thank you for letting me share this story. 

@ajaygshah

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