Following your heart

It is precisely 21 days since i said my goodbyes at Ogilvy PR. There have been many instances during this period when the question about my choice to quit has come up. Each time my inner voice has shouted 'no regrets'.

Many time in my life i have read and heard about 'following your heart'. In fact i advice anybody who has sought my opinion, to do the same. I decided to take up the advice for myself and my experience is that it is much easier said than done.

The writings on the wall have been there for sometime. I just was not enjoying the work. But the security of the salary is a very addictive drug. The more serious the affliction the deeper the monday morning blues. The society, contemporaries and the environment egg you on and compels you to increase the dosage till a point where it seems suicidal to try and opt out.

There is nothing wrong with working... really. My work places have made me who i am. I have met some of the most amazing human beings at my place of employment. I was placed well in the hierachy and with ample scope to catapult higher. Ofcourse i was looking for more of the salary drug... but that apart i liked the agency, team and the clients that i was working with. The hard work that i had put in were starting to pay off with the frequency of success increasing.

If ever i heard a voice of dissent from within i would look at how well things were progressing and that it would be stupid to give it all up. Would look for positive strokes around me and the voice within would be quelled.

Little did i know that what you preach will one day come to haunt you. When i closed my eyes and listen to my heart... the message was clear to the point of shouting ' i did not enjoy what i was doing'. When i probed deeper i could not put my finger on what about work that i did not like. This was tougher for me to come to terms with, especially, because i had absolutely no clarity to the logical next question... what is it that i like to do. I have taken a path that many say are dangerous, which for me was the natural thing to do under the circumstances. I have decided to stop doing what i didn't want to do. I have decided on a break for two months, catch up on all that i have been missing in my personal life, stop and smell the flowers if you please, and make choices as they come.

At the time of this blog... the answers are still not clear. The emotions that i experience is that of peace, excitement and confidence. I have decided against labouring for answers and to let the flow of events happening around me lead me. I hope that the faith in my own abilites and the support, love and understanding of my loved ones will lead me down the proverbial 'road less travelled' and i emerge out the better for choosing to follow my heart.