Was My Career Break A Failure?
In the few weeks between realizing I needed to take a career break and actually taking it, a lot of fears popped up. Some, I couldn’t name - they weren’t conscious but they showed up in my actions and my thoughts.
Some were big and obvious and now hilarious.
The one I remember the most was my fear of failure. I was scared that I would fail at taking a career break.
And what did failure look like to me? I was scared that I would announce my plans to go off to travel the world for a year and then I would come back early because...I idnd’t enjoy it, because I couldn't’ handle it, because of anything. And ‘everyone’ would know I failed at taking time off.
Funny thing is, I did come back early. Within 6 weeks of being out of the country, I had to come back home for a family funeral.
And it took “the failure” happening for me to realize it wasn’t a failure at all
It was a choice. And we are all allowed to make choices. We are all allowed to change our minds. So ‘changing” my career break plans in the middle of them was nobody’s business but my own. If I came home early, if I stayed away longer - it didn’t matter what other people thought, It mattered that I lived my life on my terms.
It took “the failure”’ happening for me to realize that there was no wrong way to take a career break, and all my decisions were valid and important.
And all of your decisions are valid and important as well. There is no right way to take a career break. There is no wrong way to take a career break.
You just have to do what’s right for you.
There are no career break failures. Mine wasn’t. Your’s won’t be either.