The Self-Awakening Effect of Ditching the 9-to-5

Musings on The Self-Awakening Effect of Ditching the 9-to-5

I was raised to be responsible, to stay on the steady and certain path. Any changes in my career were made with much thought and always with logic and restraint.

I got married, raised two kids, went through divorce and became a single dad all with a job as a steady backdrop.

Being a single dad doesn’t give you the freedom to chart your own course, it’s not about you, there’s a person who depends on you to make good decisions, to keep everything together, to limit risk and maintain security.

It has only been in the last two years that I have truly jumped off the safe, steady path and to be honest, I was pushed.

My son is 19 now and I find myself reinventing myself again. There is never a safe and perfect time to take on more risk. After getting laid off, selling insurance for almost a year and than getting back to pursuing my passions, I find myself in one of the scariest and most rewarding times in my life.

I am working freelance, writing, photographing and painting; building a business of my own. Sometimes fate knows it’s time and you can either swim with the current or drown.

I’ve chosen to swim. The first thing you notice is the fear, doubt and a lack of safety or comfort. You are open and vulnerable, everyone watches you move forward throwing doubt even as they encourage you.

An Insurmountable Peak

The first hurdle is not only developing a plan but also understanding what the new landscape looks like. You realize for all purposes you are unemployed, but you’re not, you’re taking on a new endeavor.  You are starting in a valley full of possibilities.

The landscape is scary, possibilities seem distant and the risks seem overwhelming. With a lot of faith and passion slowly you begin making ground, choosing a path, you are on your way to something, just not completely sure what it looks like.

Pushing Away from the Shallow End

 

Taking risk is not comfortable, you have to decide you are all in while well-meaning spectators hope you get a job, get back on the path you strayed from.

You push away from the safe; you embrace being open and vulnerable to whatever the future has in store for you. This is the time to listen to your inner voice, talk to God, and be patient and aware of what signs may or may not make themselves known.

This is the phase where all the doubts become inner voices insisting you can’t. You also realize the tightrope you’ve been walking never had a net; it was just a myth, an intangible comfort you relied on for most of your life.

Society shuns those that aren’t in the system, you’re either succeeding or failing, there is no in between. It’s a strange perspective to realize you don’t go to work tomorrow, a steady paycheck is not a given, you’re not in the herd of commuters following the routine of 9 to 5.

It can be lonely and yet a liberating feeling. All you have to trust or believe in is your passion and your decision to make your dreams a reality.

Mentors of all Shapes

At this stage you start to notice that money tends to show up at the right time and things work out if you are passionate and persevere. I’ve noticed so many people from all different lives that succeed and thrive out of the most hopeless circumstances.

If a woman with no legs can climb Pikes Peak, I can, not only start a business, I can do it with courage and confidence. So many people do grand things with so many obstacles against them; I find hope and courage through their stories.

Starting to Climb

The obstacles have always been there, it’s just a matter of facing them and finding ways to surmount them. At this point you start seeing bits of successes, the path starts to have vague markers, the path starts to make sense.

It is the most exhausting part of the ride but it is also the most exhilarating. You take a breath, a real breath and realize you are alive and awake. What disappears is the insulation and safety you’ve subsisted on for so long.

Insulation is like Novocain

It’s not a conscious thought to avoid risk, it grows from routine over time. It’s the insulation that keeps pain and doubt quiet with protection and comfort of order and predictability.

When you break away from the routine, you start finding avenues that before seemed impossible.

Foolish Enough to Succeed

You start realizing that life doesn’t have to look and feel one way. It is an exhilarating moment when all of the doubts fight with possibilities, reason wrestles with the impossible: you’ve grown foolish enough to succeed.

I’ve had the fortune of knowing several people with a lust for living life out of the box, doing things that many would see as foolish or unreasonable.

I recently spoke with someone about my ideas and aspirations and she raised the bar so far I felt like a fraud. She quit her job, went to Australia and traveled the world, I found great inspiration following her story.

The Perks of Climbing a Mountain

If you climb, you know why you climb when others find it pointless or too dangerous. I’ve never been a climber but I did walk up a steep mountain in Montana years ago. I felt the rush and sense of accomplishment as I caught my breath and viewed the grand vistas that surrounded me.

There is a feeling of great success and the reward is that feeling of not only the view but also the possibilities of grander vistas and higher more impossible goals, I believe that is when we start truly living.

Freedom is Answering to Yourself

Standing alone and against obstacles is a liberating feeling. You start to realize you are not only equipped for the valleys and struggles they teach you about yourself and life. You begin to realize how much success offers growth as a person.

The journey no longer seems as daunting but instead purpose gives you that feeling of truly being present. It is an invigorating feeling you might not have realized if you hadn’t conquered your doubt and succeeded in the impossible.

Awake and Alive

There are a lot of stresses and often pain in choosing the path less traveled. There are sacrifices you will realize as well as constant trial and necessary dedication but in the end you feel what life is all about.

Life is not a calm, sheltered cove where you are safe and nothing bad or good ever happens, life is the storm and the relief afterwards. It is realizing a sunset after struggle and taking a deep and restorative breath, awake and alive.

The possibilities and the intricacies of yourself grow and broaden as you push past the fear and doubt. Success in this endeavor is a drug that you will crave but it will never let you down, it is truly living and experiencing life on your own terms.

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Steven Gordon Linebaugh is originally from New Jersey. He lived there until he was 18 and moved to Texas to go to school. He is the founder of Artbygordon.com; an artist website connected with nature and the arts. Growing up fishing and diving in Pennsylvania or exploring the woods near his house in Edison, New Jersey, nature has always been a source for peace and inspiration. He’s been writing and painting since he was very young and he has always revered and celebrated nature. His specialties are the mystery of the night sky and the depth and magic of the intricate faces of water. In recent years, he’s worked as a graphic designer, a photographer and a blogger and continues to hone his skills. He is in the process of writing several books about living creatively, being positive in a negative space and self-help books on depression which he has suffered with from a very young age. Along with travel and a love for nature, he intends to grow his brand and help others find their sense of light and passion.