I am not one to raise my voice in times of intense pressure. Neither do I ignore responsibilities or easily lose my ability to focus. I am gifted with the ability to push myself to an exceptional degree in order to accomplish my goals. You know the mantras:

Sleep? Plenty of time to sleep when you die.

Not possible? We'll find a way.

It is a rare moment when I look at a situation and declare it hopeless. Giving up is not what I do.

However, as much as I love the idea of doom, I want challenges not inevitable failures. Eventually you have to realistically look at a situation and decide if it is worth it. And for my current employment, it finally reached the point where I was Done, capital D. There was nothing left for me to do. The situation had gotten so stressful, so exhausting, so frustratingly out of my control that my mind decreed all work would cease immediately.

That is more or less how it happened from my point of view. After months and months of 50+ hour work weeks, having other individuals circumvent both the product development process and my authority repeatedly, and the extra pressure of training two new employees...a proverbial straw was placed upon my back and my mind broke. It refused to do anything further. No amount of rest, caffeine, or convincing could get it to even look at my computer screen a moment longer. I turned in my resignation 24 hours later.

Not sure if it was wise but it definitely felt necessary. Five days later and I still feel it was the right decision. Neither the compensation nor the achievement of a release was worth the strain put on both my physical and mental health. That two week long headache is finally gone and sleep is much easier to attain now.

While I am slightly perturbed that I let the company down, it is nothing compared to how furious that proverbial straw made me after the extraordinary lengths I was going to for my job. Any time I reach that level of an emotional reaction, I know it is time to take a step back and reevaluate what is going on.

So. Here we are. Unemployed and with an entire summer before me.