I was a fundraiser for charities with projects in my home country and I was good at it. Really good actually. And I loved my colleagues and supporters so much. They were genuinely like family, but still, I had no time for my actual family and the idea of starting my own felt so implausible. Even though nature was gently yet cruelly telling me it was now-ish or never.
Weekends were no longer for excursions and adventures. They were recovery periods. If I had one activity booked at all in the entire weekend, I would feel anxiety at the thought of it.
So I needed to think outside the box. It is so ingrained in us to get a stable 9-5 and then go for every promotion possible that it can be difficult to get out of that mindset and think of alternatives.
But I did it and I decided I wanted to find meaningful work that helps people, but is flexible enough that I can fit it around whatever I want to do, whether that’s yoga at 11am on a Thursday, day drinking on a Tuesday afternoon or eventually having a family of my own.