It’s been a full year since we strike out on our own to run our own bridal shop business. There has been good times, there has been bad times, and definitely, there has been loads of new experiences.
However, the stress, pressure and total change in careers took a toll on us. My husband, who’s a free spirit and could not be confined to a desk for long, has reached the end of his tether. I have also reached the end of my barely controlled temper. The business has taken over our lives, our time, our peace and even our sanity.
To run a business is never easy. But to run a business where I was forced to pick up skills I have no interest in, to practice things I don’t like and to continue doing it endlessly is a complete waste of my time and my life. There is a limit to everything and this is it.
So, this time, I am really quitting. For good.
The late Steve Jobs’ words could not ring even more true.
You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.
So, I am ditching doing things I hate for a living. Perhaps it is because I do not like what I am doing, thats why I am not excelling in it. Just imagine, I hated makeup and yet, I had to learn to be a makeup artist. Yes, I took a course, I learnt the steps and I am even able to do professional makeup now. But it’s not exceptional. It’s not something I absolutely love. It’s just an obligation. A duty.
Then these words further spur me on to make this decision:
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Yes, we have been living some one else’s life for the past year. It took us this one year of absolute unhappiness, stress and countless quarrels to realise that we had forgotten to follow our heart and intuition.
So, we are selling our business now. We have finally gathered enough courage to quit even though it is earning us good income. What is the point of good income if it means unhappiness, extreme stress and most of all, regrets that we did not follow our hearts and dreams?
Some people would say that we are foolish to give up the opportunity to become exceedingly rich. Well, all I can say is what is the point of money if it could mean our marriage failing, our family falling apart, our health failing and our peace of mind gone?
So, no, money can’t buy everything and money is not everything. Success is relative. It is not about how much money we earn. It is not about how big a business we manage to run and profit from.
Success to me is about listening to my heart and reaching for my dreams. Success is about realising my dreams and doing what I love best. Ever since I was 10 years old, I wanted to be a writer. And true enough, I did end up as a writer for the past decade or so. Of course, after so many years in it, I became bored. I craved something different, that’s why I agreed to leave and help out in the business.
Big. Effing. Mistake.
After another huge cold war type of ‘quarrel’, we decided that it is just not worth it. Yes, busybodies will say we gave up too easily, that we are failures, that we are foolish but heck, it IS our life and how we want to live it is our business.
It is our 8th anniversary today and we want at least another 40 years (if either of us don’t drop dead in between). So, yeah, for our sanity, our marriage, our family, we are selling the business and going back to work as mere employees.
At the very least, we learnt a lesson.
That we should always do what we love and not what we thought could make us more money.
That we can never take our jobs that we love for granted.
And that not everyone are meant to be business owners.
Most important of all, you can’t change what your heart and intuition tells you what your calling in life is.
I am born a writer. I will always be a writer. I thrive being a writer. So, a writer I shall be. I will also take this lesson to buck up and finish my novel draft. Who knows? I may finally achieve my lifelong dream of becoming a bestselling author!
So, here’s to our journey into territory well-known and well-loved. It is time that we go back to what we love doing and even if it means we will be salaried employees till we retire, so be it.
Who Spoke