The Best of Us Can Find Happiness in Misery

One year ago this week, I quit my job. It was the proverbial job from hell. Every day I got up hating my life and hating having to spend it at that place. A large majority of my issues came down to one person who made my life miserable. I thought I had caught a reprieve when she finally quit. But, she was merely replaced by someone ten times worse. It was the quintessential moment of "be careful what you wish for."

I survived about three weeks with this new woman before it very nearly came to blows. It was the first and last time in my life I had to be physically restrained from doing God knows what to this person. Two days after this incident, I sat through a meeting from hell with management and told them in no uncertain terms that no one treats me that way. I turned in my keys and left that place and never looked back. Within one month, my foil had gone back from whence she came and the place systematically fell apart. Out of the original six who I worked with, only one remains.

Two weeks before my tenure at this pit of despair came to an end, I had gotten my first acceptance email for a story I had submitted. I took it all as a sign from whomever that it was time to go. Even if this woman hadn't pushed me so hard, it all would have unravelled soon enough. That moment, and all that came with it, changed the course of my life forever.

One year on, I have never looked back with any regret. And, all that has happened to me since has just been further proof that I am finally heading in the right direction. So, I am marking this milestone with a small nod to the universe and a tiny jig. Things have never felt so right, and those days of misery seem like a distant memory. And, for that I am eternally grateful.

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