Break-ups are awful aren’t they? They force us to deal with pain, confusion, doubt - and that’s just at the beginning, before you even begin to deal with the split’s lingering consequences.

Last week I initiated a break-up. I ended a seven year relationship with my career.

Please don’t think I’m making light of romantic relationship break-ups. I’ve been through several of those in my time, and they deserve to be taken seriously. I compare the two because, for me, resigning from my job forced me to confront some very difficult feelings (see pain, confusion, and doubt above).

I thought I was ready. I’d worked in education for a while, and I felt as though my career had run its course. I prepared my resignation statement, and was giving my boss plenty of time to find a replacement.  I felt good about the whole thing. Until I went through with it.

When I received the letter from my boss thanking me for my years of service and wishing me well, I immediately began to panic. What was I thinking? I’d let go of stability, great health insurance, a guaranteed paycheck. I’m in no financial position to be jobless, I’m still paying off student loans (for a degree toward the job I no longer have), not to mention I have a child and my husband and I have not-so-distant plans for another baby.

So why do it? Why voluntarily put myself through something so tumultuous and downright frightening?

Like any break up, it’s time for me to move on. And I didn’t feel like I could really commit to my new role as an entrepreneur until I went all in. No safety net, nothing part-time. I made the leap.

And let me be clear – I’m scared. There was so much safety and security in my career – that’s part of the argument for committing to one, right?  But there comes a time in life when you need to take some big risks to have some big rewards. For me, that time is now.