Leaving the career I loved…

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This is us 5 years ago. I’d just walked away from a career I’d worked so hard for. I walked out of that secondary school for the very last time just 3 months after returning from maternity leave.

All I’d ever wanted to be was a teacher. You’ll know this if you were one of the unlucky kids that I played with as a child and made be my pupil.

I’d spent 4 years at uni to get there. 100s of sleepless nights preparing for observations. Collected files of evidence and marked toooo many books.

I’d done it for over 5 years and lived and breathed it. Yes I found it stressful but ultimately I loved it. Well, most of it. Defo didn’t love the piles of marking and data.

I was good at it. I was at a good school. The kids were great (mostly ). It was what I planned to do for the rest of my working life, because it felt part of me and what else would I do?

When I finished for mat leave I few people asked if I’d be back. At the time I thought this was a crazy question. Of course I would be, it wasn’t the 1950s! I loved this job, I was going to miss it.

When I returned I felt like a different person. My passion for it had gone. My heart was broken leaving my tiny person in nursery. I resented all the work I brought home. It made me miserable.

Motherhood had made me realise that life was too short to do something that no longer fulfilled me.

I handed my notice in after only 7 weeks of being back, despite knowing I was pregnant with baby number two.

Responses from Colleagues were mixed. Some thought I was crazy to throw away a career I’d worked so hard for. Others congratulated me for daring to follow my heart.

I definitely had moments of doubt. Was I throwing everything away? Would I regret it?

I knew I wanted to train as a Hypnobirthing teacher and yet I didn’t know when or how. I knew that this was the thing that made my heart sing so I should follow it. I knew it could fit around my family if I could make it work.

So that’s what I did. I birthed baby number 2 and went to train. I had no idea how to get clients and how to run a business though. And at the time I naively thought this would just magically happen.

I learnt loads along the way, mostly from trial and error. I’ve definitely learnt lots about myself along the way too!

So was it a waste leaving the career I worked so hard for? Have I ever regretted it?

No and no.

I truly don’t think I’d be the Hypnobirthing teacher I am today without the career I did before. I don’t think I’d have had the confidence to stand up in front of people and be the ‘specialist’ in the room. I definitely don’t think I’d be now supporting of Hypnobirthing teachers in their teaching and businesses.

This is not me saying everyone needs to be a teacher to become a Hypnobirthing teacher. What I am saying is that nothing we’ve previously done goes to waste. We take what we need from it and it shapes the future us.

Life surprises us, the journeys and paths we take, perhaps we never saw coming.

Always remember to Follow your heart. Have no regrets. And know that it’s ok to change your plan. Who knows what’s around the corner!

And a big thank you for each and every client that I’ve met along the way that has made my job an absolute dream!

Abby x

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