Wishing to resign
Retrenchment. Downsizing. Layoffs. These are just some of the words I encounter in the numerous daily papers I've grown quite fond of browsing through lately. Reading newspapers gives me joy, but what I read in them, not as much. It pains me to read about people losing their jobs or about employees losing some of their benefits. Though I'm one of the lucky people to remain under a company's payroll, the darkening employment scenario is prodding me to consider resigning from my job.
"Are you crazy?"
"Maybe."
"Have you been offered a new job?"
"Not really."
"So why the heck are you thinking of resigning?"
"Good point!"
This is the scripted dialogue that runs through my mind as I imagine telling friends and family about this uncanny, ill-timed (considering the tight labor situation) decision.
Maybe I'm crazy for wanting to leave a secure job while thousands of others are too eager, and certainly would only be too happy, to take my place. Maybe I'm a bit cuckoo for wanting to resign when there are a great number of people scrambling, to say the least, to find a job.
Should I need a new job as an excuse to leave the one I have right now? I don't think so. A new job won't really cut me some slack.
Give me eight months, and I'd get that feeling to submit my resignation letter (yet again). Why am I thinking of resigning? Because I know there's so much more out there for me, somewhere. It's something I won't be able to find in or through my present desk-bound job.
You might be thinking that I'm just experiencing some quarter-life crisis, but I know that this isn't something that comes with age. I know there's a different kind of world out there to explore, wonderful opportunities waiting for me, something I wouldn't be able to reach if I punch in every 8 in the morning and leave at 5 in the afternoon. I'm contemplating of going back to school, maybe travel a bit while I'm at it. Take up a hobby, meet new friends, try out a new sport, those kinds of things. Little things that may mean nothing to a person of my age. But these are things I'm craving for.
Sure, the transition will be tough at first—no more monthly compensation—but I know I'd be better off without it in the meantime. If it means being able to invest my time in a good education, if it means being able to see the wonders of our country, then so be it, that's a sacrifice I'm more than willing to take.
I'm not saying that resigning is ideal, especially not in this time of global economic turmoil; or that it's a path that everybody should take. I'm just saying that there's more to life than feeling down after losing your job. If ever I lose my job due to downsizing, I'd take it as an opportunity, a blessing more than a loss. And others should too.
Even as I think of submitting my resignation letter, I'm already looking forward to the many adventures that I'll get myself into. That would mean a fresh start for me, a beginning waiting to unfold into a more wonderful life. What I'm about to do will open up to many uncertainties, so many challenges, but I don't think I'm afraid, I'm quite excited about this "voyage."
Confucius once said "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Resignation will be such a first step for me.
Angelica Dimalanta, 23, is a marketing officer.
