It's hard to do what you're passionate about. It's easier to stay somewhere because you know who you are there. I was one of those professionals until eight years ago when I was fired.

Without going into too much detail, my firing was not actually about me. The organization I worked for made a decision to remove my position in benefit to them. I had become a liability. I was the squeaky wheel that continued to represent the kind of work they didn’t value. Also, I was a woman and even eight years ago, in that organization, I was not as valuable as a man. 

Over the years, I have had to forgive the organization that fired me. But I refuse to forget. I was harmed and hurt so forgetting would not serve my mental health but forgiving releases me from the memory remaining as a toxic influence in my life. And, eight years later, I'm grateful to have forgiven them.

Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to my career. I had stopped pursuing my passion in that job long before they let me go. I was choosing the easy and not the good in staying somewhere that didn’t value me. (That's right. The over achieving protagonist that I am remained in a job that I didn't love and wasn't passionate about simply because I knew who I was there.) 

I wish I could tell you they let me go because I wasn't passionate; that would have been a great reason! Today, as a boss myself, I never want to employ someone to do a job that they aren’t passionate about. It costs too much; both for them and for the organization.

Are you passionate about your work? Do you love what you do? When you wake up in the morning do you have the sense and the presence of mind to be excited about what you get to do that day? You don’t have to love every day of your job to be in your passion; I think that's unrealistic. But on average, the answer better be yes because if we waste our time doing things that bring us pain, cost us relationships, success and mental health, they're too expensive. 

I'm grateful I was fired because the firing forced me to take a hard look at myself, not because I was bad at my job but because I needed to reevaluate how I wanted to spend my time.

I’m living proof that passion and purpose pays far more than a paycheck. When you take that leap of faith to step into your passion and your purpose, the pay comes in more forms than money.

Move on if where you are is not serving you. Change your focus so you can wake up passionate about what's planned for your day. Forgive the tough situations you have to endure but never forget what you learned about yourself in the midst of them.

Be you, to the fullest,

Amber (a.k.a. The Feisty PM)