I began to think that maybe going back to school to get my MBA or studying to become a CPA would give me what I was searching for while I was working. But it started to become even more self evident to me, that I needed a defining moment in my life which was separate from anything related to my career.

It is funny that sometimes you think you have reached a certain level of comfort in your life. In October of 2011, I was two months away from celebrating my 30^th birthday and things couldn’t have been going better for me. I was closing in on finishing my first year as an auditor in the oil and gas industry and feeling my career was heading in the right direction along with looking at the possibility of buying a house in the middle of 2012.

Then one Thursday morning, I was called into my supervisor’s office and told that I was going to be let go from the company effective immediately. It was a huge shock to me because I had no problems with anyone at the job and never received a warning or notice about anything. Even though I lost my job and the economy was terrible, I still had hope I could find another job soon. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as I had planned and I went almost 7 months without a job. I can’t lie and say that this period wasn’t rough for me. I started thinking about all the time and effort it took get to the point I was previously at and how quickly everything was taken away from me.

After a few weeks of getting over the initial phase of my unemployment status, I started to become very reflective of the moment I was living through. I began to realize that all my hopes and dreams were tied into getting into the right field/company and making a good salary. I finally had climbed to the top of the mountain with my previous employer, but it didn’t feel the way I thought it would. Beyond the financial ability my new job gave me to buy a new car, afford a bigger apartment, and some other amenities, it still didn’t provide me with the value I was looking for.

I began to think that maybe going back to school to get my MBA or studying to become a CPA would give me what I was searching for while I was working. But it started to become even more self evident to me, that I needed a defining moment in my life which was separate from anything related to my career.

In late 2010, I had previously started writing the first chapter of my book, but I had my doubts if my words and thoughts would ever leave my laptop. In January 2011, after turning 29 the month before, I decided that if I was going to finish writing my book, I had to do it at that particular moment. Needless to say, the writing of my book was one of the enjoyable and rewarding journeys of my life.

As I was finishing up the last chapter of the book, that is when I lost my job and I didn’t write anything for almost a month. I finally finished writing the book, but I was now in a predicament. I had planned on self publishing my book from the outset, but with no job and just living on my savings I wasn’t sure what to do. I prayed about the matter and ultimately stepped out on faith and decided to go ahead with publishing the book.

I hope everyone that reads my story goes out and pursues whatever dream or idea they have been holding on to and not wait for the perfect situation to do so. Always remember that life is unpredictable and our current status/position can change in an instant.

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Chinedu Achebe was born in Richmond, Virginia and currently lives in Houston, Texas. He currently works in the accounting industry. He is also the author of the debut novel, Blunted on Reality. He is also on twitter @ChineduAchebe.

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30 Days 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians to share their stories and experiences with other young Nigerians, within our borders and beyond, to inspire and motivate them.

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.