Life is Too Short to Work a Job That Doesn’t Bring You Joy: Lessons From Chronic Illness and My Time as a Receptionist

Living with chronic illness has taught me that time is finite and moments are precious. So after working a job that didn’t bring me joy for a year and a half, I realized something needed to change. In this post, I share lessons I learned during my time as a receptionist and explain why I believe you should never work a job that doesn’t make you happy.

So, simultaneously, my chronic illness often has me thinking about how life is too short to do things we don’t want to do. Especially when it comes to your career.

An Overview of My Life as a Receptionist

I worked two different full-time jobs since graduating with a business degree in 2016. 

At the first one, I was a receptionist for a recruiting agency. I was in charge of running the front desk in a cold room, running expense reports, and tracking our clients on spreadsheets. It wasn’t exactly what I’d call fun.

My second job was working at a senior care company as an office coordinator and then, after eleven months, I transitioned to the HR department to be a recruiter. Though I enjoyed this job more than the first, my soul still didn’t feel at home.

There was something inside of me craving to work more closely in the health and nutrition field or with fellow chronic illness patients.

Going Back to School to Change Career Paths

But in my receptionist office jobs, I felt trapped. I had a business degree, not a degree in nutrition or kinesiology or health sciences. It would be impossible to meet the requirements to be a dietitian or physical therapist or any other position in the health field—other than a receptionist.

And I was ready to put those phone call-riddled days behind me.

So I quit. I put in my two weeks and left my job at the senior care company. I was SO excited because, instead of finding another job, I had decided to go back to school full-time to get a degree in dietetics!

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Leaving My Comfort Zone

Was it scary? Heck yeah!

It was financially risky because my husband and I would be living off solely his income while I dumped money to go back to school.

But I took this plunge because I was tired of feeling like I was missing out on something. I was tired of being in a position that didn’t fulfill me. I saw my coworkers following their dreams by working there, and I wanted that for myself.

But I knew my dreams were laced with knowledge about health, content creation, and disease management—not how to escort someone out of the building after failing their drug screen or how to fire someone without making them cry. (I’ve had to do both of these).

Quitting that job was one of the best decisions I ever made because I felt a calling to change careers, and I followed that call. I’d finally decided to put my happiness first.

A Piece of Encouragement for You

Maybe reception and recruiting would have fulfilled me if I didn’t have a chronic illness. But my illness was urging me to get closer to others on their own health journeys and to help them.

I wasn’t exactly sure how. Maybe through becoming a dietitian. Maybe through working with patients at hospitals. Or by becoming a wellness coordinator consultant for companies.

I just knew I couldn’t help others like me (others with chronic illness) where I was currently working.

My chronic illness taught me that life is too short to do things that don’t fuel you. Especially when it comes to your career.

So much of your life is spent at work! And I decided I wanted my job to fulfill me, rather than just pouring into others but leaving myself run-down and empty. 

So take a risk.

Go back to school. Start a business. Reduce your hours to part-time so you can start a side hustle or slowly transition into a career that fulfills you.

Seriously.

You deserve to be happy. And don’t ever settle for less than what you deserve.