Thanks everyone!
Wow, I have to comment that I'm pretty overwhelmed by the level of geunine support that exists on this board.
The helpful advices, suggestions, and remarks that many of you have shared are rare, but they prove that good people do hang around in this unique community.
When I made the first post, I had no idea it would turn into something like this. I wasn't looking for a mudslinging argument, and I wasn't looking for a hug. I just wanted to share a humble story and tell people, "Hey, hope you don't end up like me."
I actually wished I could had told everyone a different tale and that I was retiring with a mansion and several yachts and you're all invited to come along, but that's just not how it went.
My reality was that I had already spent five years in this game and that I was about to turn 30 with still not much under my name. I thought my life needed direction, and trading was getting me nowhere.
For awhile, I felt like a swimmer in the ocean. When I was at it, there was a part of me that kept telling me to keep swimming and I'll reach land soon. There were many times I thought I had spotted land, but when I got there, they were just mirages. I might had found a plank or two along the way, but they were only temporary relief. It eventually got to the point where I really saw nothing ahead other than just more water. That voice that told me to keep swimming couldn't persuade me to continue the path anymore. I had to make a decision. It was time to reverse course.
After making the decison, there were still great obstacles though because it was not like I was only a few hundred feet away from the beach, but more like hundreds of miles away. I worried how would I even get back. I was in the ocean for so long I was even sure if I remembered how to walk.
But I guess that's what I'm learning now - trying to get my feet back into the real world. They might be small steps, but it's a process. And even when old dreams are broken, there's still new hope in other places.
The job offer I got now is nice. Stable salary and possible bonus. Benefits and dental stuff also, which are so regular nothings to everyone else, but they are foriegn luxury to me. It's a big confidence booster because maybe I'm more marketable than what I initially assumed, but I am not sure if I will take it. The location is far away. I don't know if I'm naive to be a chooser at this stage, but I don't really know what kind of market we're in. I haven't had a real job in five years, but I just received an offer after only searching for about three weeks, so maybe that's telling me something.... like I'm finally getting lucky? Or maybe people are just hiring like crazy. I don't know. All I know is that I'm not as worried as before, so that's a pretty good thing.
