When I first met Leah through Twitter, I was pretty sure I was going to like her. She was genuine, funny, and engaging. Shortly thereafter, I visited her blog and confirmed my suspicions that she was “my kind of people”. Since then Leah has become a good friend, and she is the wonderful technical genius behind the workings of this website! I’m sure you’ll enjoy Leah’s story, and when you’re done, scroll down to the beautiful free desktop Leah has created as this week’s gift! (Just right click on it and save it as your background.)

On Wednesday, September 16th, it will be two months since the day I quit my job. 

Two months! 

In the grand scheme of things, two months is a very small amount of time. Right now, though, two months feels like a pretty big deal. 

When I quit my job, I had enough money in my savings account to last me one month. One. There was no back-up plan. No family or spouse to fall back on. No 401k to cash in when the going got tough. It was sink or swim. 

And I chose swim. 

Here I sit, just a few days before the two-month mark, and the money that would have only lasted one month is still tucked safely away in my savings account. It’s been a very, very difficult few weeks financially, but I have done everything in my power to keep from touching that money. It’s a badge of honor for me – a measure of my success. It’s also the closest thing I have to a safety net. I know that when I touch that money, it’s the beginning of the end. When the money runs out, time has run out for this little adventure as well. Sometimes, on the scariest days, I remind myself, “The money is still there. I have at least another month.” 

These past few weeks, my strength has come from Disney-movie wisdom, IE Dory-the-fish: Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I made this decision, and then I came across this quote (which I have put on a desktop background for you – see below):

 ”The only way to get what you really want, is to know what you really want.
And the only way to know what you really want, is to know yourself.
And the only way to know yourself, is to be yourself.
And the only way to be yourself is to listen to your heart.”
- Mike Dooley

Two months ago, my heart was breaking every day. My heart yearned for something more than the 8-5 that I was doing day in and day out. I loved that job once, but it was time to face facts: It was no longer serving me.  Is that a reason enough to quit, though? It really isn’t. Let’s be realistic – we don’t have jobs for the hell of it. We have jobs to pay the bills, to put food on the table. Throwing caution to the wind is foolish.

It’s also very brave.

I sat at my desk for weeks before quitting my job KNOWING with every fiber of my being that I was meant for something bigger. That I could do something that matters. My heart would not be quiet about that, and it only got louder. Eventually, I did exactly what Mike Dooley suggests. I listened to my heart. And I became myself. And I got to know myself. And I figured out what I really want.

I am two months into this journey and my head is still above water. Am I sure that I will never sink, always swim? I am not.

But I trust my heart to tell me when it’s time to move on.

And you, my friend… I hope that you will heed this advice as well. I hope you will listen to your heart when it tells you that something is no longer serving you. I hope you let it guide you into the scary unknown and I hope that when it comes time to sink or swim, you believe your heart when it tells you that you have what it takes to just keep swimming.

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