Over the years, I’ve had many different jobs and tried many different things.
Some of them, I’ve naturally liked more than others. Some were easier than others, and some had aspects that fit well with me and my personality, but other aspects didn’t.
It’s been a process of experimentation over the last decade of trying on different hats, seeing what fits, what feels right, and what is totally not my style.
Sometimes it’s easier to know what you don’t want than it is to know what you do want, and I’ve found this to be true when it comes to the world of work. I always knew without a doubt when a job wasn’t for me when it started to make my insides turn.
I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher when I became so depressed that I no longer wanted to get out of bed to go teach my ESL students in Korea. (Granted, this may have been a combination of homesickness and feeling lost in life as well.)
I knew I didn’t want to work in the wedding/event industry when I had what I can only assume was a mini panic attack in my apartment. All of a sudden, my heart was pumping so hard and fast that I could literally feel the blood coursing through my body. My head ached, I was sweating, and I could barely catch my breath or take in new air. I paced and paced, trying to calm myself down. My stomach felt like it was doing backflips inside me.