Last week I had coffee with an ex colleague who is still working for the large global organisation I worked at for 5 years. She is returning to work after maternity leave and already her anxiety levels are high. I left the same company in June 2012 and can honestly say I think it was the best decision I ever made. I'm now a mature student (hence the handle), taking the time to reconsider my options while I expand my mind. I question why it took me so long to leave a situation that made me so unhappy and destroyed my confidence? Money etc. aside, it was more than that, what stopped me? And also, why do people stay in organisations that make them so unhappy?