Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I’ve been having a hard time processing something and was hoping to get some advice or perspective.
A while back, I changed industries and moved from a small private company to a big organisation. I really wanted to do something meaningful and help create change on a larger scale. But the reality was pretty disappointing, my boss only seemed to care about personal advancement and not the actual purpose or impact of our work.
In this field, there’s a lot of potential to do good for the community, but every time I tried to speak up or suggest better ways of doing things, my ideas were shut down. The “easier” route was always taken, even when it wasn’t the right one. Eventually, I left that toxic environment and transferred to another place in the same line of work.
The issue is, I still hear updates from old colleagues about poor decisions being made, and it’s frustrating to see how they continue to affect others negatively. It brings up feelings of helplessness, regret, and sadness. I sometimes catch myself getting angry that the same person is still getting promotion, even though their actions are causing harm to the community we’re supposed to serve.
I actually like my new boss and the work I do now, but I can’t shake the guilt of leaving a place where I used to have a voice. I keep wondering if I gave up too soon or if I could’ve made more of a difference.
How do you deal with these kinds of emotions — regret, frustration, and helplessness — when you can’t control what’s happening anymore? Even when I try to stay out of it, the updates somehow reach me, and all those feelings come back…. It’s so disappointing and hard to manage…..
