I started this blog to create a bright spot in my life- to cheer myself up despite the bummer life I was leading. Good News Monday was an idea by my mother, who was sick of hearing about everything that is wrong with the world. Why can’t we hear more of what is right?

I took a brief break from the blog to refocus my energy on finding a new job. I had convinced myself that the job I was at was toxic and it was time to leave. I’m not a quitter and I didn’t exactly want to leave my first job out of college after less than a year. I kept telling myself something else would come along eventually, and to just sit tight. However, it became painfully evident that this job was ruining me. I grew up with my mom always telling me to use my words. Confrontation has never been my strong suit and I’m not particularly used to fighting for myself and my well-being.

My previous supervisor was constantly putting me down. The power trip that girl was on was outrageous. I’m an emotional person, sure. But there were many days that I would leave there crying. If I didn’t cry on the way home, I would cry in my bed, while my boyfriend sat there helplessly. I can’t even begin to tell you the strain it put on our relationship. Men are born problem solvers. It is their natural reaction to fix it when they see someone they care about in pain. This situation I was in, however, was not fixable, at least by him. I knew that if I wanted to be happy, I had to remove any negativity I could. Therefore, I intensified my job search, I put the feelers out to everyone I knew and was applying like crazy.

When I came across my current job on LinkedIn, I knew it was a long shot. It seemed too good to be true that I could find something so perfect. But I said, why the heck not, and applied anyway. I literally heard back within an hour and scheduled a phone interview that same day. The phone interview went well and I was almost immediately introduced to my future boss over lunch. I wanted this more than I had wanted any job previously. I knew this was my ticket out of a nightmare and into my dream career. The day that I received an official offer, I quit my job. While initially, my decision to leave left everyone on cordial terms, it quickly turned sour and I was threatened with my last paycheck and accrued vacation time. That’s a different story for a different day…

I drove away from my last day of work crying, but for the first time, they were happy tears. I was finally free. I promised myself that I would no longer subject myself to that type of bullying again. “You took thirty-FIVE minutes for lunch?”, “The shipping boxes have crease in the tape. You need to be more careful.”, “I sacrificed myself for you and I will never do it again.”, “While you were sick yesterday, I had to do ALL your work, and my own, why didn’t you answer my call?” (oh sorry, I was having a colonoscopy, stemming from the stomach pain that the stress of this job caused), the list could go on and on. Not to mention, I was made to write daily long reports of each and every thing I did that day, and stay as late as I had to for no additional compensation. The stress of that job made me sick almost every day. I was on four different medications to help me get through the day. I was told I will never have a career in marketing because “it takes hard work”. I was essentially a secretary for a monster and every day, I was never doing enough for the company. They thought I would devote myself to the job, my whole life, my heart and soul. I won’t devote my whole self to a job, with no chance of growth, for $12/hour, especially when it’s not something I want to be doing for the rest of my life. If it was marketing, hell yeah I would have devoted myself to it. If it meant growth, knowledge, and advancement in the future, I will do what I have to do.

Many of the questions I asked myself were:

What’s more important? Relationships or a run-of-the-mill job?
Will staying here a year really help me all that much in my future?
Am I being too emotional?
What is better for my future?

The good news part of all of this is that I am now working at a job that may be mundane, but it the perfect foot in the door for a career in marketing and advertising. Every day, I’m regaining my happiness and I accomplished this all on my own. It’s the most gratifying feeling to know that I make my own happiness, I am in control of my life, and that I have the most supportive people in my life.

I urge anyone in a similar situation to do everything you can, in your power, to get out. I realize this may be more difficult the older you get, and the more responsibility you have. I’m extremely lucky that I’m young, college-educated, with no children to have to worry about currently. It’s okay to be a little selfish. If not now, then when? It makes me sad to think that anyone else would be stuck in the same situation. As someone who grew up being the pushover and the one who always puts others before herself, it’s nice to take the reins back a little bit and put my foot down. It’s liberating!

Thanks for reading. This has been quite the journey and I can’t wait to finally start MY life the way I want it! =)