I Thought I’d Feel Empowered… But Today I Feel Lost

When I made the decision to leave my job, I imagined this new chapter would feel like taking a deep breath after years of holding it in. I pictured myself waking up energized, sipping coffee slowly, and diving headfirst into a life that finally felt right.

Instead, here I am on Week 3, staring at a blinking cursor and wondering if I made a mistake. No one warned me that freedom can feel this disorienting.

I expected a sense of power. But today I feel like someone cut the strings that held my routine together, and now I’m just drifting, with no real destination. It’s not that I want to go back, but I’d be lying if I said I don't miss the structure, the purpose, the people, even the mundane predictability of it all.

And then there’s the job hunt.

There’s something uniquely defeating about sending out resumes and hearing nothing back. It makes you feel invisible. Powerless. Like you’re shouting into the void, hoping someone, anyone, will see your value. Even when you know you’re qualified—even when you're proud of your experience—it starts to wear you down. Every unanswered application chips away at the confidence you were clinging to. And when you're already vulnerable from such a big life change, the silence can be deafening.

Right now, I don’t feel brave or bold. I feel… off. And honestly, a little foolish.

But here’s what I’m realizing: this feeling—this confusion, this emotional hangover—isn’t failure. It’s the cost of change. It’s the awkward middle step that no one talks about. Reinvention doesn’t come with a roadmap, and it almost never begins in a way that feels neat or empowering.

So today, I’m giving myself permission to feel lost. Because maybe feeling lost is part of finding something new. Maybe being unsure is exactly where I need to be before I discover who I’m becoming. Maybe the power I’m searching for isn’t in always feeling in control—it’s in allowing myself to keep showing up even when I’m not.

To anyone else who’s in the fog right now, refreshing job boards and wondering if you made the right call: I see you. You’re not alone. Let’s keep going—even if today, the only thing we do is admit we have no idea what we're doing yet.