Why would I make such a foolish decision, leaving a dream job for nothing in particular? Every time someone asks me, I have a new answer. I’m in a rut. I want to be self-employed. I lost my mojo. I want to cross some items off my “bucket list” while I’m still young enough to enjoy them. Work takes all my energy. The list goes on and on, and they all boil down to two things. First, I want to pursue some of my dreams. Second, I lost job satisfaction over the years. Together, the timing was enough to convince me to go for it.

I’ve had people tell me that going for it isn’t the smartest decision. The economy is in the toilet. There is no guarantee I could get my old job back if I tried. I’m not a trust-fund baby. I’m not independently wealthy. I don’t have wealthy friends or relatives. I don’t even have a place to live. In fact, my mom has a history of kicking me out of her house, so I have no safe haven! This has to be the worst decision of my life.

One thought has pushed me to ignore the few naysayers, at least temporarily. Life is so short and can be changed so abruptly by forces outside our control. I feel compelled to take every opportunity to live it to the fullest.

My inner conflict in making this life-changing decision reminds me of the shoulder angel and shoulder devil seen in comic strips and sitcoms. On my right shoulder, a stern-faced angel is telling me to stay the course, to continue playing by the rules, and to stop having foolish romanticized thoughts. To my left, a funloving devil with a pitchfork is telling me I need to try things his way for once, that I’m only getting older and won’t have this opportunity again, and that I can always change my mind if things don’t work out.

The little devil won this latest round.