The one about the break

This post was long due. A few days back I quit my full-time job. Not to take up a new job or do my own stuff. But to take a break. This post is about getting things off my chest.

[Side note: If you expect dramatic farewell e-mails copy/pasted here then this ain’t that dhobi ghaat. But since you asked, I had a dream job and I was lucky to work with some tough-ass talented, even genuinely nice, people]

"Why?": No simple reason. I think career decisions like these are the toughest ones to make. And sure as hell, the toughest one to take. I worked for eight years in a great job, but somewhere I drew a line and said, well, that’s that then. I need a break. Not that whole running away to Ladakh and finding your mojo (for the record I also did that) kinda breaks. Not those varieties. I’m talking clean break.

I’ve seen how we slog. And boy, all of us slog. Those late hours and all those reasons to justify them. I’ve seen some people doing the work they were born to do. Good for them. Me? I’m not in a tearing hurry to find out what I was born to do. Like that Jerry Maguire tagline I love – “The journey is everything.” So one fine day, I decided I needed to exhale. You know, take a look around. And hence the break. Or the brake.

"What next?": “Dude, I don’t know, let’s see”. Some people buy it, some don’t, even if I’m not selling anything. What I can’t quite get is why this “I don’t know” isn’t acceptable. I mean, what’s the big deal in someone just taking a break without a job offer or a business plan in his hand?

The opinions: Dicey, dicey. We live in times when ambition and drive are taken for granted. Pushing harder is the order of the day. Tolerance and understanding come at a premium. We’re all entitled to our opinions and views. And neither have to have anything to do with the truth. Or with your side of the story. Being judgmental is easy. But our opinions about others can say more about us, than about them. Enough said.

The ones on my side: One funny question I got often was “What’d your wife have to say?” I don’t know the point of this question but since you asked, she was cool with it. My friends were also, by and large, cool. So ok, some of them questioned my intelligence and some warned me about desolation, doom and gloom. Oh I kid them, but come on, they did so only for my good. They couldn’t understand my reasons and I don’t expect them to. I’m just glad they’re there. But the ones I love are those that went “Congrats” and “You’ll figure it out”. And those that never asked me why.

Finally, here’s the thing. I have no idea what job or business I’m going to do tomorrow or whenever. And sometimes, that ain’t a pretty thought. But sitting here today, if I take out the debris of an all-too familiar panic, I can see excitement too. What the heck. We all make decisions and we all have our reasons. It’s a risk we take, a call we make. Things work out, things don’t. They call it life. This is mine.