A Bengaluru-based former senior manager has caught the internet’s attention after opening up about the emotional aftermath of quitting her job after 11 years. In an Instagram post, Shivani reflected on life after leaving a long corporate career, admitting that the hardest part was not resigning but coming to terms with what came after.The Bengaluru-based former senior manager quit her job after 11 years. (Unsplash/Representative image)“I thought the hardest part was leaving. I was wrong,” she wrote in the caption of the post, before detailing the uncertainty, grief and identity shift she experienced after stepping away from work.Shivani recalled recently seeing former colleagues get promoted. “People I worked with. People I trained. I closed the app and sat there for a while,” she wrote.She said that the challenge wasn’t leaving a job she disliked. Instead, it was letting go of something she genuinely loved. “The hard part is not that I left. The hard part is that I loved it,” she wrote, recalling how she would voluntarily learn new tools simply to improve her work.She said she once enjoyed presenting complex ideas to senior leaders and making them easier to understand. “That feeling used to fill me up completely,” she wrote.Over time, however, she said that something changed. “I still don’t know when it stopped. When the calendar notification started giving me chills. When the work I had chosen started feeling like something I was trapped in. I don’t know who did that,” she said.(Also Read: Indian-origin man went from working as ‘cleaner, kitchen help’ to buying a ‘million-dollar house’)Now, when people ask what she is doing, Shivani said that she tells them she is “chilling”, even though “healing” feels more accurate. She admitted that she initially believed a short break would make her miss corporate life enough to return. Instead, she said that she discovered something unexpected.“I don’t miss it enough to go back. And that is the most terrifying thing I have discovered about myself,” she wrote.“Everyone has a suggestion now. Learn this. sell that. Do a course. I hear them. I just don’t feel pulled by anything yet. And I have stopped pretending that I do,” she added.The former manager further spoke about the uncertainty of not having a clear next step after more than a decade of structured career progression. “After 11 years of always knowing what came next, the not knowing is the loudest thing in the room,” she said.“I am not looking for answers on LinkedIn. I think I am just looking for proof that I existed there. that it was real. that I mattered,” she concluded.HT.com has reached out to Shivani. The article will be updated once a response is received. (Also Read: Indian techie in US quits 'dream' job at Google after 4 years, says 'I'm the most alive I've ever been')Social media reactionsShivani’s post resonated with many professionals who shared similar experiences.One user wrote, “I’m just surviving everyday to thrive for that one day when I will call it quits.”“Everyday I felt anxious and suffocated...I feel dizzy... I don't hate the job..its good, but the micromanaging part, the process, the system is making me feel like this..i just want to stay in my dream n don't want to wake up to see another day... Thank you for this video, seeing this makes me feel better,” commented another.“Almost in same situation. Quit after 12 years. Notice period ending next week. Have no idea what's next-or even if there is anything 'next' or not,” shared a third user.“Sailing in the same boat, took career break after 20yrs, it's been a year now on a healing journey, but there are some days when I feel regret quitting my job, low confidence, confusion, still don't know where the life path will take me,” wrote another.