Why quitting my job was a great idea

One year ago today I quit my job. With nothing else lined up, it was the biggest gamble of my life.

That night I went out for drinks with the guys from the job I was leaving. And the next morning I woke up on one of their sofas with a delicate head craving tea and bacon (which were suitably supplied by the local cafe).

I made my way home at about 9.00am and needed to change at London Bridge so I decided to catch a bus. As I was stood waiting that was when The Fear hit. I realised I was unemployed for the first time since I left university. I had no plan, a sore head and was stood waiting for a bloody bus. And for what? Some vague dream of doing something to do with comedy somehow?

But then a song came onto my iPod – a song I had forgotten I even owned. The song was Sunny Hour Reprise by Long Beach Dub Allstars. Oddly enough it’s a remix of the song used as the theme tune for the sitcom Joey (please don’t hold that against it). It’s about a guy who finds a sundial on which he reads the following:

“I only count the sunny hours, the brightest hours of day
I never count the gloomy hours, I let them slip away
And when the sky is dark and grey, and there’s no love around
I simply just refuse to count, until Sol comes around
And sweeps those clouds away.”

And then I really looked where I was.

I was stood on London Bridge. On one side I had the beautiful morning sun shining off Tower Bridge. On the other side stretched the capital with all the promise that a Saturday morning offers.

I have no doubts that I made the right choice now. That job was right for someone, but it wasn’t for me. Instead in the past year I’ve organised a comedy show with some of my absolute heroes, I’ve conquered my fears and tried stand-up for the first time and, with the help of one of the biggest bands in the UK, I asked the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met to marry (and more shockingly she said yes).

Now this story could have ended every differently. That decision could have been the dumbest thing I’d ever done. But at that point, stood there in the February sunshine, something drastic changed for me.

Whatever happens in life there’ll be good times and bad. That’s a given. But right at that moment I lost my fear. I no longer let the worries of the bad times stop me chasing the good ones.

Whatever happens, where ever I am, I know there’ll be plenty of sunny hours.