Saying goodbye to full-time work

So after two years of spending half (or more) of the year working full time Ive finally gotten myself into a position where I can make the leap to completely commit myself to acting, stunt work and martial arts. In one respect this is an extremely exciting time for me, but in another its a leap of faith as well. The fact of the matter is, I am leaving behind the best job Ive ever had. I was teaching English in the sports department of a university, and my coworkers were some of the best people Ive ever had the pleasure of working with. My classroom was on the top floor of a beautiful building on a hilltop that afforded me a panoramic view of Kanagawa stretching from the Yokohama Landmark Tower to the mountains in front of Fuji-san, and the most amazing sunsets I could ever ask for. The schedule was a breeze, the facilities were all brand new. The pay was great (particularly given the exchange rate to the states right now), and my students (although a bit crazy at times) never gave me a dull moment. It was also close to where I live (and on the same train line) but going against rush hour traffic, so my commute was short and easy, and I always had a seat both going to work and coming home. They even flew me back and forth to the states in between working contracts, so I never had to pay to go home. In effect, it was more or less a perfect job.




At the same time however, the full time work schedule also meant that I got home too late from work for serious training, and the longer I did it, the weaker I was becoming, and the harder it was fight off weight gain. It also meant having to turn down everything from motion capture to stunt and acting work because I wasn't able to take the time off, and eventually my becoming less important to agencies that used to call me any time and every time there was work to be had.

As such, I knew that as great of a job as it was, it just couldn't last forever. For those who have read it, the book "The Alchemist" offers a lot of great anecdotes about what it is like to follow a dream or obtain a difficult goal, and the longer I follow this path, the more parallels I see. As the main character tried to cross a desert to achieve his goal, he stumbled onto a perfect little oasis that had everything he needed in it. In order to reach his objective on the other side of the desert, he simply had to leave it behind. For me, this job was my oasis. And as I turn to walk away from it with nothing more than an idea that there is still something better out there, I can't help but think of the words of Bruce Lee, "There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."