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When people talk about marriage hardships, they may talk about raising teenagers, caring for aging parents, or even overcoming infidelity. But there is one surprisingly common change that can greatly affect a marriage, that people rarely discuss: when one person does a complete career change, long into the marriage. This is a huge adjustment on everyone. Look: it’s already extremely disorienting and emotionally challenging for just the individual undergoing the career change. And anything that is a massive adjustment on a married person will always be a big adjustment to his spouse, too. How could it not? Our careers dictate much of your day-to-day experiences, as well as our overall lifestyle and goals. If your partner tells you he’s thinking about completely changing career paths, and he’s a bit beyond the traditional age to do that, it can create an upheaval. Here’s what it’s like when your partner jumps ship on career paths.
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You fear he’s giving up on his dreams
If your partner is ditching his dream career path for a more stable, “traditional” one, you can’t help but fear that he’s giving up on his dreams. When he’s spent so much time on this one dream, made so much progress, and just cuts bait now, it’s only natural to wonder…is this a positive change or…a negative one? Is he pursuing something new, or just giving up on something old?
