When It’s Time to Leave, Be Brave

I’m honored to guest post about a time to leave at my friend Crystal’s site today. In this post, I tell the story of how I needed courage to pursue my calling as a writer, and the path God led me down to take a crucial leap. Here’s a snippet of the post, and I hope you’ll head over to Crystal’s site to read the rest.

Some people are born brave. I’m not one of them.

On every personality test I’ve ever taken, I fall in the “cautious” category.

I don’t like heights or speed, which means amusement parks don’t amuse me. For every decision I make, I waffle between the pros and cons before I finally decide, even if it’s just a restaurant menu. I’m a security seeker through and through.

Yet one year ago, I was brave enough to leave a dead-end job. And I’m so glad I did!

How My Bravery Grew

When I was 13 years old, I knew I was put on this earth to be a writer. I won writing awards in high school and majored in English in college. Yet I was afraid to jump into the publishing world in my twenties, not yet knowing the ropes. I pursued another degree in graphic design and illustration so I could have income.

When I graduated in 2001, I couldn’t find full-time work as a graphic designer. I settled for a receptionist’s job at an advertising agency, grateful to get scraps of design work or copyediting here and there.

In 2003, I accepted a job as an event coordinator. It allowed me to work from home and raise my children, and I adored being a work-from-home mom. But the creative urge kept surging inside me. I didn’t know how to fulfill it, and I felt frustrated. Every afternoon, I wrote in my journals while my babies napped to keep the writing juices flowing.

My contract went sour and I endured a brief season of litigation. Loyal to a fault, I decided to keep working three more years in a job that left me feeling empty and unfulfilled.

I started a blog in August 2010 to dip my toe in the waters of publishing. Stopping and starting several times, I didn’t keep it up. Yet my curiosity was piqued. God planted seeds of bravery in my heart in those early blogging days.

Read the rest of the story here.

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