On my NOLS course six years ago, one of our trip leaders read us The Parable of the Trapeze. Go read it yourself, as my summary will do it little justice, but I'll give it a shot.

The parable goes like this: For most of your life you are hanging on a trapeze bar, merrily and comfortably swinging along. But sometimes you spot another trapeze bar swinging at you in the distance. And you know that trapeze bar has your name on it. You know you must grab it. But to do so, you have to let go. You have to fly through the air for a moment and cross all fingers and toes that you actually catch the next trapeze bar. And while it is insanely scary - that flying through the air - that is where all the magic happens. That is where the real change occurs.

I think about this parable a lot, but it feels like the perfect description of my life right now.

I've been on the job hunt for a while. I expected to move into a full-time, remote gig, working at a marketing agency or maybe in tech. I'd be part of a team of 5+ people that I could bounce off, learn from, and build a community with. Hopefully with a better title and a bigger salary. This was how I envisioned leaving my full-time job after nearly six years.

But as time went on, my job search drew out. With one rejection after another dead end, I became less engaged with my work. I knew it was time to leave but I just wasn't having luck landing a new gig. I knew I owed it to myself to be doing work that fired me up.

So I quit.

OK, it wasn't quite that dramatic.

Essentially, I left that stable, full-time role for a few freelance gigs. Nothing like I imagined - yet it was absolutely the right decision. I needed to take a step forward, even if it wasn't the 'perfect' next step. And I needed to move into a new mental space with my work to free up energy to find that dream gig.

All this is to say that your career transition might not look like you envisioned in the next step. Maybe it's going to take you more steps to get where you want to go - I know mine is. And that's okay because I'd rather stumble by pushing myself and taking a risk than letting myself stagnate staying in something comfortable and safe.

My job search is definitely not over. And I am flying freely through the air. I know that next trapeze bar is near, I just haven't quite snatched it yet.