It sounds hypocritical, and totally against what anyone has ever told you, but I'm telling the truth.

Sometimes quitters win.

The whole reason why I'm writing this is in hopes that there is someone out there who is where I was a year ago. I want them to know that: no, you're not crazy. Yes, you're making the right decision. Everything will be fine.

If this is you and this helps you in any way, then thank you. You've allowed me to reach my goal of using my crappy life experiences to one day help someone.

One year ago, I was working at a hotel at the front desk. This hotel was located at the middle of a very large outdoor mall located not too far from UNF which shall remain nameless, but if you know anything about Jacksonville you'll know what I mean.

I started working there in October of the previous year and since then had been "promoted" to a supervisory type position. I was in charge of training the new employees on the front desk, doing accounts payable and receivable for billing and even stepping in when we lost our head of housekeeping and helped keep that together.

I was working extremely hard, often more than 40 hours a week on my feet and still maintaining my school work with all A's. I thought, "this is what it's like to adult. If I work hard and keep this up then I'll definitely make it to management one day, maybe nice a salary, and a career with corporate. Oh, how wrong I was.

I've suffered with anxiety pretty much my entire life. It's not the kind of anxiety that most people are used to reading about. My anxiety constantly changes. It's triggered by stressors from day to day. Meaning that, I never really know what could set me off, but once it happens, my brain goes 99 mph. before finally it crashes and burns. This leaves my body physically worn, my emotions a wreck and my day pretty much ruined.

These attacks were frequent but unpredictable which made it so much worse.

This started to severely affect my work life. I worked the majority of the large events that came to town from Christmas celebrations to sporting events at UNF, and that meant that we had a full house of about 180 rooms. Being in the slightly higher position meant that I was expected to act like a manager which meant that I had to come in to help the newer people when problems arose if no one else was able to so. This led to over 55 hours of work in one week. Along with school work, trying to maintain my marriage and the shambles that was my social life, I was hard pressed to find a moment to breathe.

When I asked for a higher pay and a more set schedule just to help me find the work/life balance I needed, I was always given an excuse that basically meant, "No" but always came out as, "We'll work on it."

After taking some time off to spend with my parents on their first visit to Jacksonville to see me and being called in on every one of those days, I had enough. I couldn't do it. I had a full on mental break down and lost it. The worst part was that I was concerned about THEM. "Them" being the people that I worked for. I didn't want them to be disappointed in me or upset that I could reach the expectations they had set for me.

Here I was losing hair (more than the normal ten pounds a day I shed naturally), eating less than one meal a day due to time constraints and barely holding it together. For some reason, I was more worried about what they would think of me.

I didn't have another job in line so I didn't feel like I could quit. After a long talk with my incredibly supportive husband, I did it. I quit. I wrote a letter of resignation, washed and turned in my uniform and said thank you, bye. And I never looked back.

That was the turning point in my battle. When I finally started to gain some ground. Less than a week later I had an interview with Bank of America for a great job that was right up my alley. I had about a month until the training class started for my new job. I took that time to finish my Associate's degree and spent time working on managing my mental health. I have never once regretted my decision to quit.

I know that was long and if you made it to the end then, thank you. If you're struggling with something like this or similar, know that putting yourself first is going to be one of the hardest but best things you will ever do. Your future self with thank you for it.

See? I told you. This quitter won.