Allow Yourself To Take A Leap Of Faith And See What Happens

When I walked away from a 6 figure salary, I thought I made the biggest mistake of my life.

When I bought a one-way ticket, I was drunk. Most poor decisions in my life started with this sentence, so why did I think this one would turn out any differently?

This was not a hasty decision, though. It wasn’t something I decided on the spur of the moment. For five years, I had talked about and dreamed about quitting my job. I hated my job—okay, hate is a strong word—I hated being on the hamster wheel of the “normal” life/world.

I used to get laughed at, “Sara, I thought you would have quit by now,” but you are still here.

Going to work day in and day out—who does that anymore, right? Well, for 15 years, I did (okay, more like 20 years, but who’s counting). Most of us do.

It’s how we survive and work.

Single, childless. What did I have to lose? What did I have to gain? I already felt like I was dying inside, and it couldn’t get any worse, right?

Would I allow myself to take a leap of faith? See what is on the other side of “normal.” Would I allow myself to trust myself fully and actually do it? Or have you watched Eat, Pray, Love one too many times?

Could I do it? Could I be like Elizabeth Gilbert (ok, she had a book deal; I had a dream, a backpack, and a lot of internal baggage, problems, and fear)? So it was the same, right?

When I woke up in my drunk/ hungover haze, I instantly thought, “What did I just do?”. Yes, of course, I can return the ticket. Not the end of the world.

Except it was. I promised myself to change my life, no matter what. At this moment, I trusted my gut/ instincts and intuition.

So I decided at that moment something in my life had to change if I would get on a plane to Colombia in less than six months. I needed to pay off my debt of at least 20K in less than six months, or I knew I would fail.

Ok, so I am a nurse. Working at the top-rated hospital in the world. How did I accumulate so much debt? Drinking, partying, shopping, depression, and the vicious cycle just repeated itself.

Until it didn’t.

I finally had a goal, a dream, something new to work toward.

As soon as I was no longer hungover, I planned my new life. When you decide to plan something, it’s exciting in the beginning. I picked up two side hustles. Well, maybe it’s not a side hustle if you have to go to work. I picked up two additional jobs at clinics in Beverly Hills.

Fortunately, it’s easy for a nurse to work herself to death. How do you think I got into this situation? Nurses, we work our asses off, and then we burn out and crash hard.

But I had a light at the end of the tunnel; now I had a goal, a dream, and I would succeed.

Guess what? I actually paid off the debt.

I think I surprised myself also, but nurses, we will work ourselves to death. We are like a good mule to a farmer.

I was beyond miserable at this point. Yes, out of debt, one step closer to my goal. I had moved into my car to avoid paying excessive rent.

It worked, and I did it. My credit card had a zero balance for the first time.

I should back up a little. By the time I lived in my car, I had already downsized my life. All of my belongings fit into my car. I was planning this for a while. I just didn’t think I would ever actually do it.

As they say, live for the life you want, not for the life you have. Who said this? I will site it as.. anonymous, but an intelligent person who is not me.

Through this, I realized maybe I could actually do this, debt-free; I saved the money I was earning. Would it work, though? Can I put in my two weeks? Can I get to that place in less than three months?

I told everyone about my plan to travel the world. Except my family.

Eventually I told them.

I realized I was living a sort of nomadic life in my car. Maybe I could actually travel the world. Alone, single, searching for the meaning of life, or just running away.

At this point, I had already tried AA, quitting drinking off and on. Maybe I just needed to leave my life of misery to get out of my head.

Desperately seeking a change, I did. I got on that plane. I quit my job. My favorite part of my last day of work was.

Someone I worked with who I hadn’t seen for a few weeks looked at me and said.

Sara, I see you are still here. I thought you were quitting. I said I am; today is my last day.

Never give up. Take that leap of faith and see what happens. If nothing else, you will have a wonderful story to tell.

Please follow along for more. Also, if you would like to see more in-depth reasons why I quit my nursing job after 15 years, please visit this video I made after I quit!

Thank you for reading. Please comment. What is something you have taken a leap of faith in doing? How did it turn out?

XOXO

S