Sometimes, there is no other way out . . .

Sometimes, when we don't see any way out, we just have to break through the wall. (Think Kool-Aid man.) Sometimes that applies to those with an accounting job that hate every day of their lives, and sometimes that applies to those who have lost their accounting job and hate every day of their lives looking for another accounting job.

Below is an excerpt from an email a reader recently sent to us. To this reader, and others who may be in the same position, we say, maybe it is time to break through the wall and escape. That doesn't mean burning bridges and torching the accounting profession on your way out. It means breaking down the wall between you and happiness. You can be an accountant and be happy; you can even work at the Big Four and be happy; and you can even be unemployed and be happy, so long as you've broken through whatever mental wall separates you from happiness.

Of course, sometimes you do need to get out of the accounting profession. A true conversation between a wise father and a son went like this (substituting "accounting" for the profession the son had initially pursued):

Father: “When you walk down the street, when you’re in the shower, when you don’t have to be thinking about anything else, isn’t [accounting] what you think about?”

Son: “No.”

Son recollects: “My father paused. It was really a very tender and poignant moment, because I knew how much he loved me and how much he wanted me to be a [an accountant]."

Father: "[Son], I think you’d better get out of [accounting]. You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don’t have to think about anything, that’s what you think about.’ ”

Son followed his father's advice, switched his profession and became happy. This is a true story.

Now, for the email from our reader:

Hi there,

Love the website, thought I was alone in my misery till I discovered after I put "unhappy accountant" into the magnificent search engine google.

Well where do I start? The traineeship, the graduate program or the stint at 2 local accounting firms? All have squashed all my ambitions that I had as a stary eyed 1st year university student.

Through it all after completing my degree, then my CPA I am now unemployed. How is that for a pathway to success?

As you can imagine I have been stripped of any confidence in my abilities and am left scavaging for jobs in competition with those wonderful people holding a supreme qualification called Cert IV in business. Well, I have given up, how can I compete with those with no theoretical knowledge but stacks of hands on?

Thanks for listening to my squaller, please pray for me to God the Almighty that he may shine some good luck my way as well as all those others in my shoes.

Good website!

Cheerio