Seven years ago, I started my very first day in my career history. A freelance job in a small company, bus hopping from one client to another, worked on site during weekdays and worked on my thesis over the weekend. A first job that made me learn much more than a college can do. A job that made me learn how to speak, to be confident, to bring out all the best that I had in me.

Right after graduation, I made my dream come true: I worked as an auditor in a Big Four that I always wanted. Turned out that I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my life, yet I can’t deny that having this job in my CV has given me the opportunity to be the one that I’ve become. It’s the first place where I learned how to be an achiever at work, it’s the place where I learned how to survive in life.

Less than three years, I moved forward as a Company accountant. That new place was such a battlefield, it was that one tough place that made me find myself. I learned how to be strong, to be tough and unbreakable. I learned how I could wipe my tears and went back to my desk to finish my job by overnight.

Three years later, there I left again. I finally find a place that I enjoy the most. This new place feels like a different world to me. Though in the same time, it’s also the place where I learn to never give up. Trying to do my best has never been this hard before. It feels like if I can survive this, I can survive everything else to come.

Seven years I work, seven years I learn that the dreams will do come true. My very first traveling abroad, my first leather handbag, my dream car and a tiny apartment to look forward to. It’s also a seven years where I learn that I will never stop learning for the rest of my life. I have had so many ‘slap’ on the face that woke me up to become a better one. It was not only a seven years of hardwork and tears, it was also a seven years of laughter and joy.

Career anniversary is always important to me. It’s like a milestone, it’s a celebration of another year of life learning. Because for me, working is not only about earning a living. It’s not only about killing times and meet some new friends either. My career has been my identity, working hard is in my blood, it’s simply something that I can’t live without. It’s where I learn to live, learn to love, learn to let go, it’s where I learn how to be my best.

Hence apart from my complains, my rages, and my very bad mood in the morning, I am very much grateful for my career path. I may be in doubt about doing the same job until I get old, yet I know for sure that I should be thankful that I’ve reached this far. Being a Senior Manager when I was only 27 was indeed beyond my imagination. That’s why again, believe me when I say; it’s not easy to be me, but it’s fun! Hehehehe.

Happy seven years to me!

One week ago, while I was lying on my bed with bad cough and high fever, I received an e-mail from a stranger offering a pretty interesting job opportunity. He found me through Linkedin, so I clicked his profile right away, interested to know more about him and his Company.

I was actually and literally very sick. I was too tired of my crazy working hours in the office. However, I was committed to myself. I would never leave something unfinished. I have a responsibility to finish that one big thing I’m doing at work right now. Besides, deep in my heart, I still like my job here, I’m still proud of being a part of this Company, and I still want to give it a try.

Without any further chance to get to know about the opportunity that knocked, I said no, again for a few times in the past ten months.  But this time, I don’t know why, rejecting this one reminds me to a few past opportunities that I pushed away.

Just like rejecting the guys who came close to me, rejecting a job offer is also never easy to me. There’s always that time where I wonder…

What if I was wrong? What if that was actually the best thing that I could ever have?

What if that company could be one big thing that I desire in the future?

What would I learn if took that job?

Who would I meet?

Where would I be?

What would I have?

And would I be happier if I were there?

It’s not that I regret the jobs that I finally ended up with. I know that I have achieved so much and I’m so grateful for it. But you know… no matter how awesome the life that you have, a wonder will always cross your mind once or twice in your lifetime.

So I don’t write this blog as an expression of regret, I write this to remind myself to always think before I make such a big decision in my life. I want to take that one decision that will not make me keep looking back at my past over and over again. I hope that I will never hope to turn back the times. Because sometimes, when we reject something, it’s not always their loss, it can be our own loss instead.

Think before rejecting, and once we make our mind, we have to do our best to make the most of it. Make sure that even if someday we do look back to our past, we can be the one who says, “I used to have that one option, but I’m proud that I chose this path. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have this decent life and I wouldn’t have met these people of my life.”

Make the decisions and grow awesome!

A few minutes back, I’ve just finished reading a blog shared in Linkedin titled “10 Signs You Need a New Job in 2015.” A nice article that reminds me to a few random people I know. The people who really hate their job, who constantly saying bad things about their own employers, and the ones who told me they would leave their job for like a hundred times before.

So many well-said words written in that blog until I spotted one line that really caught my attention. The writer simply said, “If your colleagues are excited by the work they do or simply excited to be a part of the organization, don’t kill it for them.”

I find it absolutely true. Hatred is contagious. Hence if you genuinely hate your job, never ever let your hatred kills your colleagues’ excitement to work for your company. Don’t make them feel stupid for enjoying and loving their job. If the company is not right for you, it doesn’t mean it’s not right for them either.

I know that at this point, some of you may think, “It’s your own fault if you let this kind of thing gets under your skin.” But the thing is… I’ve been there before. I know how hard it is to stay happy after hearing so many bad things about my own job. I needed to struggle a lot, and keep saying positive things about my job to myself, just to hang on and keep going.

Sharing how you feel about your job is normal. I’m even a strong believer that sharing with friends can reduce my burdens. It’s just that now I realize that I can’t do it to every people I meet in the office. And I think, all of us need to start doing the same.

Stop saying how stupid your company is. Or saying how your company is run by a bunch of stupid people.

Stop announcing that your company will go down and running out of money in the next few years.

Stop bragging that you already have so many job offers which are much better out there, and stop saying that only hopeless people who are willing to stay in such horrible place.

Stop laughing when your colleagues say they are happy with their jobs and then telling them how wrong they are.

Or maybe, stop being annoying to your colleagues just because your personal feeling to the company. Stop answering people’s short and simple question with rage. Stop yelling and putting innocent people’s life in hell just because your own life feels like one.

So guys, if you already come to a point where you hate your job that MUCH, then just quit. Find a new job and start fresh. Until then, there’s no point to exaggerate your desperation and irritate all people around you. Even if later you’ve found a new one and about to leave the company, there’s no need to convince your colleagues to do the same. It they do feel the same about the company, they will find their own way.