The last few years in the industry were mental torture and there is only so many horror stories you can hear before it starts to affect you.
Eventually I had to get out of the industry altogether, simply shifting specialities wouldn't have been enough to help me sleep at night.
Going from working sixteen hour days to doing nothing but reassessing your life turns your world upside down.
For the first two years I slept almost constantly and my wardrobe consisted mainly of pyjamas.
Now, having made the decision to go back to work I am faced with the question, what do I want to do career wise?
I know for certain that I will never go back into the welfare sphere. Although I did enjoy working with the clients the management left much to be desired. No debriefing, hellish hours and at times even more hellish conditions.
So using the skills I developed working in the trenches isn't an option unless I decide on an exciting new career as a bouncer.
This means retraining in another area and that's a daunting option at 40 years old.
I read a quote the other day that said, if your not happy with your job quit and follow your dreams. Life is too short to be stuck in a job you hate.
What I loved most about working in welfare was teaching the clients how to cook.
Cooking is the one thing that I really get a kick out of. It relaxes me, even when I happen to be cooking for 30. There's something comforting in knowing that mixing chocolate with hot cream makes the most heavenly icing for cakes.
This is a love that has developed over the last ten years. Nothing makes me happy than having a houseful of people to feed.
This is what I will be concentrating on next year, an apprenticeship as a chef. Learning from scratch all of the fundamentals of this craft will be as much a pleasure as it will be hard work.
I only wish I had come to this realisation ten years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment