My life has had a strange dichotomy over the last decade. I have seen my financial graph go ever higher (to the point of FIRE) while other aspects of my life have fallen apart in all sorts of ways.
The classic Tech FIRE story: I am a 33 Male. I grew up in India and moved to the US for a masters in 2014. After graduating, I move to the Bay Area for a job in tech. Although I was quite starry eyed in the beginning, the expectation vs reality of a tech career hit me pretty hard and I soon realized that it was not something I'd be able to happily do for good. But I was making a lot of money and not spending most of it. As one does, this is when I discovered FIRE and it fit perfectly into the puzzle. I was able to steadily move towards my FIRE number thanks to the tech boom over the last decade. I was going to use this time to reflect, figure out what I wanted to do, start working on it on the side and transition as seamlessly as possible in the lead up to FIRE.
The unravelling: Around 2018 I started suffering from a lot of gut issues which turned into a full blown chronic illness in a couple years. The quality of my life has been extremely poor since then and I'm lucky to have kept my job only because they allowed me to work from home on health grounds. To add to it, my very short-lived marriage ended in a difficult divorce and caused a lot of stress and trauma, making my gut situation worse (Luckily my nest egg didn't get dinged due to the short length of the marriage). After the divorce proceedings ended, I decided to return to India and moved back in with my parents last year to take better care of my (physical and mental) health. My job has allowed me to work remotely from here but it's getting increasingly difficult. A reorg last year and the ensuing office politics has become an added source of stress and pushed me over the edge. I am burnt out from all the blows and unable to take the stress anymore. I've also realized that my gut issues are heavily psychosomatic and are directly related to my life dissatisfaction and the chronic stress I've been under.
I hit my FIRE number last year and I know I'm beyond lucky on the financial front, but one doesn't imagine turning in the letter on a low point when one starts their FIRE journey. Since divorces are looked at a bit more critically in India, my aging parents have an added anxiety about my future. Thinking in forevers is too scary, especially with so many uncertainties I have in front of me. So I am thinking of it as a year long break. I'm considering talking to my manager about my situation and quitting in a couple months. I don't have a concrete plan but a few ideas of what I would want to do besides focusing on my health. Despite a downer of a post, I have a pretty positive orientation towards life and interests to pursue. I want to write and I want to work towards a career in Psychology. But the lack of structure and a concrete identity are making me anxious.
I guess I am asking here for permission and feedback on my tentative plan. And I'm hoping to hear similar stories for inspiration.
Thank you very much!
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