So I finally did it. I took the leap. I quit my job and
decided to take a break to travel around before re-entering the workforce.
People have asked me time and time again
why I quit and why I decided to leave
a place I have made home for the past two years. Sure, I did not live a life of
luxury in the
most expensive city in the world, but I had a
job, shared a nice private flat in a quiet neighbourhood, a good handful of
friends, and a happy and fulfilling relationship. Why abandon it all for
unemployment and travelling on a budget?
Isn't Singapore just so purdy?
As I’ve begun to embark on my travels and tell more and more
people why, the more I look into my choice. It all boils down to a conversation
I was having with my cousin. As is normal for yuppies in their mid-20s, we were
having wine and discussing the woes of work. It was then when my cousin told me
something I would never forget: “You know what cousin? There is a difference
between being comfortable and being happy.” It dawned on me that although I had
friends, a relationship, and a career, the feeling in my gut still told me this
wasn’t the right city, the right career path, and that I deserve to chase after
something that would make me happy.
Fearful of remaining a bum after graduating high school and
university, I rushed into my career choice. Jobs are few and far between right?
So I had to take what was available. At least that was my opinion in the
past.
It seems, like myself, a lot of other 20-somethings think of
their twenties as a time to keep mucking around until reality smacks them in
the face. Sure, there are the ambitious and the successful, but there are also those
who are either stuck in a dead-end job, a career path they hate, or doing
nothing at all. We are happy to be comfortable. Being happy is too risky. In a
day and age where the economic climate has all of us recent graduates
struggling for a foot in the door in the workforce, we seem to approach life
with an unnecessary averseness to risk.
I was stuck in a job that had no prospects, no challenges,
and pretty much no promise. So I did it. I quit my job without any idea of what
the future holds. I will go and travel around Asia, meet new friends and old,
splurge on holidays, budget on others, and explore my career choices, but most
importantly I will do this because it makes me happy.
So I urge others who are
not yet happy: don’t be afraid to pursue it because comfortable is not good
enough.
