> How do I deal with my feelings? Should I seek professional help? Yes. If you’re at the point where you need to anonymously seek advice/share on HN, I definit

> How do I deal with my feelings? Should I seek professional help? Yes. If you’re at the point where you need to anonymously seek advice/share on HN, I definitely think it would be a good idea to talk to someone. And please don’t read that as me being flippant. I’m a strong believer in therapy and think it is beneficial for every single person. I would also suggest talking to some sort of career coach. I used to dismiss executive coaches because I thought a lot of the practitioners were just con artists hawking their wares, but I’ve found real value in executive coaching and have good friends who have as well. Finding a good coach is probably just as hard as finding a good therapist (and the roles are similar), but if you don’t want to talk to someone about the residual anger and resentment you have, you should at the very least talk to someone who can help you make sense of making some sort of game plan to get back on the management track, if that’s what you want, or to find something more fulfilling to do. The thing is, the grass isn’t always greener. There is no guarantee that you’d be happier or made director if you’d gone the management route. Your work hours would also probably be double. But you can’t change the past and hyper-focusing on that won’t help you feel any better. You need to move forward and you need a plan. Good luck. Also, go easy on yourself.