It seemed to be the perfect job.

I was excited and so very ready to get to work.

The job called on areas of my skills and training that I was hoping to use but which had been sitting dormant for a while.  All the cards seemed to have fallen into place.

I started work filled with enthusiasm, enjoyment and imagination.

That’s when it all fell apart.

Sometimes you just have to let them go.

I realised that my ideal job involved working with a less than ideal client.

 

It wasn’t that she was horrible or asking for the impossible.  Actually, she was very reasonable.

The problem lay in the way we saw life, and nothing can really change that.  It is such a fundamental difference that it influences everything from choice of word to choice of content.

She saw black and white.  I saw those but I also saw glorious shades of grey that we needed to consider and build the work around.

At first I doubted myself.  After all, this was a woman at the top of her industry.  She has a great reputation, and deservedly so.  Maybe I was wrong.

But you know, my gut was screaming at me that it was all wrong.

So I walked away.

I don’t think I’ve ever been in this situation (professionally) before.  I did what most people do.  I brooded over the episode. I questioned myself many times. I drove myself crazy at the idea that I had “let the client down.”

Sometimes you have to let them go.

I realised that working together would have been tough for both of us and would have blown the deadlines right out of the water.  Neither of us deserved the stress.

This was a big step for me and I feel as though I’ve jumped a hurdle that I should have jumped much earlier than this.

I lost money on the choice I made, but in the end I probably saved us both many hours or days of wasted time.

Have you ever been in this situation?  How did you handle it?