On day one of my first IT job, I realized I made a huge mistake.
Actually, the biggest mistake of my life happened when I took up engineering without thinking if that’s really what I wanted to do. I never had any future plans in my mind so I chose what seemed like an easy option for me. Engineering never felt difficult because I was good at studies and 4 years went by quickly. Except that in 3rd year, I experienced my first massive heartbreak which led me to writing poetry more than attending my lectures. The more love poems I wrote, the more I healed and learned to express my feelings. And eventually, words became a huge part of my life even though I never called myself a writer.
Fast forward to 4 months after I graduated from college, I joined my first IT company. And that’s when my life completely changed; for the good and the bad. Actually, mostly for the bad because I realized that a 9-5 job and coding wasn’t meant for me. And the worst part of it all was that I had no clue what I was supposed to do if not live a normal life!
As days passed, I started hating everything about my life and couldn’t find a way out of it. Even though coffee helped a little in the morning, but by the end of the day, I only felt miserable. In few months, I even fell into a clinical depression I wasn’t aware about. I knew something was wrong with me but I wasn’t able to deal with it alone. So that’s when I turned to writing again. But instead of writing poems this time, I started writing a story instead. I had no clue what exactly I was going to write about, but every day after work, I used to sit down religiously to write and not stop until 3 am! The words just flowed and I got something to look forward to every single day apart from my daunting job. I also spent all my weekends glued to my laptop screen instead of partying with my friends. This went on for 6 months until I had my first draft ready! By that time I was completely burnt out but also felt proud of finishing something most people only dream of! A book!
I named my book baby, ‘Yours sincerely, Misfit’, which tells a story of a 21-year-old fighting with the real world, trying to create a new life as she felt like a misfit in her own.
The day I finished writing the last chapter, I promised myself to not waste my life doing something I wasn’t passionate about. So I spent another year working to save some money, edited my book and worked on my mental health until I no longer felt that darkness inside me. And after I gathered enough courage, I quit my job to follow a new path and surprisingly, that path showed itself! Along with writing, I fell in love with travelling as well because that’s what I did for an entire month! Just as much as words made me happy, unknown roads made me feel alive like never before. It was clear that my passion was writing and travelling. So I decided to become a travel blogger and take that road less traveled.
I still don’t know exactly how I can turn my dreams into living reality and I am still pretty lost. But I know that if I don’t take a risk now, I might never will. Of course, the past few years have been the toughest but now I feel, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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