It’s about that time for that not so glamorous, unedited, IG/blog post where I get personal and express how I’ve really been feeling lately. After all, this is real life and everything is not always as perfect as it appears on IG. I love everything about my life (husband, family, friends, furbabies, IG friends & fam). But, there is one part of my life thats been weighing on me lately, and surprisingly, it’s where I spend the majority of my time… work.
I’ve been an Occupational Therapist for the past 6 years, and I’ve been blogging as a hobby for the past 3 years. My husband and I moved here to Austin ~2 years ago, and I’ve been working at the same job since we got here. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love being an OT. It’s one of those feel-good careers where you can have a huge positive impact in a person’s life. These last 2 years I’ve felt valued at my job; like my opinions mattered, and I was actually making a difference in patients lives.
I won’t go into the details here, but there have been many recent changes at work that I do not agree with. For the last month, I haven’t felt like or been myself lately. I have come home from work depressed, considering my options and devising a plan to escape my current job situation. I’ve been praying a lot lately- praying for guidance, clarity, and courage. I prayed for God’s guidance in making the right decisions that would get me back to being happy with what I do as a skilled professional.
Over the past month, I’ve done a lot of self reflection and realized these 3 things about myself and current situation:
- First, I realized that if I can’t be happy despite reframing my mindset, then I need to figure out a more permanent solution to my problem.
- Second, I realized that I am a valuable and great practitioner and I will find another job that will be a better fit for me.
- Finally, I realized that although changes may seem scary and difficult, some of the best things/experiences in my life have resulted from a major change. Any time I have been open to trying something new or taking a leap of faith, my life has been positively impacted .
The good news is, change isn’t new to me. Over the past 6 years, Trav and I have lived in 4 different states and I’ve worked at 7 different facilities. It’s such an amazing thing to experience different places, make new friends, and work alongside other amazing coworkers. It wasn’t always easy for me to embrace change, but after a while it began to feel like my new normal.
I didn’t write this blog post to convince you to quit your job. I just wanted to share my personal thoughts and feelings about leaving a toxic work situation before it really interfered with other aspects of my life. Although I may not have everything figured out, I know that I love being an OT and I also love blogging. I’m going to take this time to really focus on my blog, PRN OT work, while also working on loving myself and my life.
Have you experienced something similar? Have you encountered major changes recently? I’d love to know how you handled it. After all, we all get by with a little help from our friends:)
PS..I’ve been listening to a lot of motivational podcasts recently including Tony Robbins, Style Collective, Tim Ferris, and Gary V. I don’t know if y’all are into podcasts, but they always leave me feeling inspired and motivated.