I didn't go to work this week. The two weeks notice I had given to my employer was all for naught in the face of adversity in my personal life that I could not overcome. Last sunday I had resolved to finish my last week at the company and give my proper goodbyes on a good note, however the following day that resolve crumbled. It was not the first and won't be the last example of the tiresome cycle of motivation and demotivation that I have been subjected to. Taking a leave from my job was mostly my own decision. As much as I'd like to blame someone or something else, I had simply wanted to take a break. The other day, on a planned trip to the store in search of festive lights to decorate my room with, I had briefly stopped by a bakery/cafe that I used to work at. While in line to get my usual Vietnamese iced coffee, by chance one of the Uncles who I worked under was still here came out and I gave a little greeting. He was a night shift Baker, so it was rare for him to be here at this time, so it was quite a shock. We ended up talking for nearly an hour while I drank away my coffee and had a sandwich-size loaf of multigrain ciabatta that they were newly experimenting with that morning. It was good. During our conversation, I had mentioned that I had just left my previous job and Uncle jumped to let me know that they were looking for someone to hire and that I should work at the bakery again. I was happy to hear that, so I let him know that I would at least think about it over the next week. After that, we talked more, mainly him asking about me, and the conversation became more like a father-son talk. This Uncle I worked with before is in his 60s now, so he does see me as an unrelated grandson and I did take to him as a father figure due to never having one growing up. At one point he had asked me if I had a girlfriend yet and I replied no and added that I don't have many opportunities to meet girls. While we were talking, I also expressed that I wasn't interested in working full-time, having a car, and having a wife and kids. He then proceeded to question my sexuality. It was pretty amusing, but not surprising for someone his age. He liked having a family and enjoyed driving to work. Uncle then aired his concern for my future and advised that I would not have one if I kept moving around from place to place. He said that he liked when I worked here at the bakery in the past and wanted me to work there again, and that it would be good for me. I didn't find any of that disagreeable really, it was all sensible advice that I had been living by before. But it somehow stung, coming from someone else's mouth. Soon after that, I had finished my coffee and then left the bakery to head to the store like I planned. In the end, after all was said, I had to stick to my guns. I left my comfortable desk job in order to regain some semblance of my mental health, so I'm not about to jump into a back-breaking one.