What About Work?

– September 2023 –

Alicia’s friend had quit her job to focus on her cancer treatment and recovery. Do I do the same? Can we survive on single income? What if I can’t focus on my job? Will my personal health insurance be sufficient? What if I run out of paid sick leaves? What if I don’t want to work anymore? But for how long? Won’t that be bad for my career? What if I can’t find another job with the same salary and benefits later?

I rang up Alicia again. Turns out that although her friend no longer had a full-time job, she continued on with and even completed her bachelor’s degree. It gave her a sense of purpose, she said. Don’t stress, but stay occupied.

“Otherwise you’d be drowning in your own misery.”

Alicia was right. I cannot only be focusing on the negatives. I needed a distraction.

3 days later, I finally worked up the courage to tell my manager. Jason proved to be an advocate for me. He allowed me to work from home for the rest of the year, and even informed me that our company has 60 days of paid hospitalization leave that I can utilize whenever I needed to.

So I decided to man up and keep my job.

Photo credit: https://cdn.britannica.com/28/180828-138-C9C052FB/video-Otago-New-Zealand-South-Island.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop