... and been glad you did it?

Sometimes it feels really good. I quit doing food reviews for the News and Review a few months ago, and it was such a wonderful relief not to have to eat bad food anymore. I quit going to meetings about the midtown Sacramento traffic plan, and I suddenly discovered that traffic doesn't bother me as much as I thought it did. And truthfully, when I quit the journal last time, it was a wonderful relief -- I started sleeping in for an extra hour!

Of course, then I got a puppy, so there went that plan.

But it's different quitting something you're tired of. Quitting something you enjoy because you just don't have time for it -- that's something different. But you can't do everything, can you?

-- Anonymous, July 17, 1999

Answers

About a year ago I quit my job. About the most liberating thing I have ever done.

Of course, then I got a hernia, and a back operation, and..., and ... But it was very empowering, just deciding: I don't wanna do this anymore.

Beth, it's great to have you back! I cheer your decision to stop writing class. As a selfish reader I think: "good, now she'll update more". But for you, I think, having some extra time can also really help you enjoy the rest more. (That cute dog! I'm so jealous!)

-- Anonymous, July 17, 1999

Yeah, I quit Uni and my marriage at the same time. Was necessary for my sanity. Oh, but what a huge disappointment trip I put on myself for about a year. Guilt, shame etc etc.

However, I went back later on and completed my degree, and told my ex- husband to see a shrink. Now we are both happy in different states and new relationships. Best thing I ever did, quitting. But oh it was hard...

-- Anonymous, July 17, 1999

I quit a graduate program in anthropology. I knew it wasn't the right thing for me to be doing at the time, even though I enjoyed the classes. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had other priorities. It would have been easier to continue, but I knew I didn't have enough time in my life to spend doing things that weren't at the top of the list. And, Beth, I'm 31 and so far have found the 30s to be mellow - free of all those the expectations I had in my 20s. best,

-- Anonymous, July 18, 1999

I also quit school, like Karen S. I also quit my startup costuming business.

I bit off more than I could chew and finally realized that I needed to get my sanity back or I was going to jump off of the 8th floor balcony of my office building.

I regret a lot of went into making these decisions, but in the end run I am happy that I made them because my sanity is NOT worth the price I was paying in angst and suffering.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

It took me a long time to quit grad school, but I am so glad I did. I went because I was convinced I was meant to be an academic, because I had someone to share the interest and the hours, etc. Along the way, my faith in my fate and abilities waned and without the now ex someone to investigate the subject with, my interest waned too. I had to get over the "what will people think?" fear, which was a function of my pride, and think about what was best for me. I allowed myself finally to act on this during the course of one last miserable interview with a professor, and I flew across campus, nearly literally, to throw myself into the office of my best friend and tell him. His immediate, bone-crunching, loving handshake was all the affirmation I needed.

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

Yep, I've quit school several times, quit jobs, quit relationships.

I see way too many people trying to cram too many activities into a finite number of hours per day. It doesn't work, not in the long term, not for most people - at least from what I see, it does not create healthy, happy, balanced human beings.

Life is too short without making yourself feel miserable, never living in the present because no matter what you're doing, you're thinking about the next thing you've decided you have to do, or whatever it is you were supposed to have done already but didn't have time for.

Judy

http://www.judywatt.com

-- Anonymous, July 19, 1999

I *finally* quit smoking... It's been a week and two days now. I feel *really* good about it, because I'm pregnant. It's about the only thing that *could* make me quit smoking. I *love* smoking... I'm REALLY orally fixated, so I really LIKE smoking, but I also recognize the benefits of quitting for da baby.

I also quit school (tech school) because I was dating one of the guys in my class, and I didn't feel like I was paying enough attention to my work... Also, I didn't have *any* time to work on the novel that I'm TRYING to write, so it was depressing.

I also quit a job at a major computer company. THAT was one of the best things I have EVER done. A lot of people think I'm a crack monkey for that, but I was a temp and not looking forward to 2 years of working without benefits in an environment that I really did *not* fit into. I'm back at a job that I had a year and a half ago and I'm SO much happier than I was at that "Inside" place. Ugh.

-- Anonymous, July 20, 1999

Hm... well, I quit my job a little over a year ago (so I'm broke, but still have fragments of sanity). I quit UC Davis, too, and the only things I really regret about that are going there in the first place, and not officially dropping classes, trashing my GPA. I dropped a humanities class last semester, because although it looked really interesting and the teacher seemed good, it was just going to be way too much work. Right now, I want to quit apartment hunting, but that is going to continue until I find a place.

-- Anonymous, July 22, 1999

I quit my job (catalog customer service) 12 years ago and was really happy about it.

I'm less happy about stopping visiting the nursing home after my Mom died. I should have stayed visiting her roommate, but just didn't, and then I felt guilty so I didn't, and I still squirm about it.

We're on the verge of quitting something else, volunteering for the Gold Fever! exhibition. The training yesterday was so botched we still have no clue what to do, and it appears there are no perks for volunteering, and it seems like a mess. I don't know if this will make me happy or sad.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 1999