I didn't start over. I realigned.

It was 2am and I was still at my laptop.

HR Director at one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Ten years I'd spent building that career. The salary was brilliant. The title impressive. The benefits package everyone envied.

And I was absolutely miserable.

Sunday evenings brought that familiar dread. Monday mornings felt like walking into a prison I'd built for myself. I kept telling myself to be grateful. That leaving would be pure madness.

Then it hit me: staying was the real risk.

My health was suffering. I was missing everything that actually mattered. I wasn't living anymore. Just surviving.

The brutal weeks that followed were the hardest of my career. Questioning everything I'd worked for. Lying awake knowing deep down I'd eventually leave, but terrified of losing the security I'd worked so hard to build.

My body made the decision for me. The constant exhaustion. The way my stomach dropped every Sunday. I didn't have that long to wait.