We at Bright Side admire people who are not afraid to change themselves and master a new profession at any time. That’s why we want to tell you several inspiring stories that prove: everything is possible — all you need to do is put your mind to it.

• My stepfather was a normal man, he worked tailoring hats and driving for a taxi service. One day he found paint in his house and started to make modernist paintings. Do you still think it’s too late to start doing what you like? © mementomorrigan / Twitter

• My mom used to work as a programmer in a state institution, but they stopped paying her salary in the ’90s and she and my father had to start selling stuff at the market. They started and ran a household chemicals store for almost 20 years. When it was closed (because they couldn’t compete with big chain stores), my mom became a masseuse at 60 years old. Turns out, she has always wanted to work with her hands. And she likes to learn new things about the anatomy of the human body. She feels happy when people feel better after her work. She has become extremely sought-after in just 4 years. I am very, very proud of her. © OlgaBeshley / Twitter

“I served in the army for 15 years, now I’m a nail master.”

• I was born and raised in a small village. After I somehow got my education, I started to work as a cashier-seller. As funny as it might sound, it was the pension reform that pushed me to change my life. I realized that I would have to work for a long more time, so why not start doing what I really liked — programming. I started to do online exercises, read books, and watched videos. I spent all my free time on it, which I was extremely short of because I had to work and I also had a little girl.
  When I started to look for a new job, I kept getting refusals — one after another. I almost gave up and started to think, “Who needs a 30-year-old woman — as a beginner programmer?” At some point, I found out that my resume was incorrectly composed. When I fixed it, companies started calling me for interviews themselves. Now it’s been 3 months since I started to work as a programmer and I am enjoying my new job immensely. The main thing is, when I go to work in the morning, I don’t think about how tired of it I am. I am happy! © Poxynik / Pikabu

“Both my mom and I are graduating today.”

• Once I was working as both the head of a warehouse and as a wholesale seller in a market. I used to work 7 days a week — even when I had an official day-off, I still had to come to work to accept the goods. My salary was small, but I had a lot of responsibility. Once my friend asked me if I wanted to become a masseur (I was already able to do classic massage, because I had finished special courses when I was younger). So I thought, “Why not?” Now I am working as a massage therapist and helping people to recover after a stroke. It’s such a wonderful feeling when something, like an arm or a leg, that was not functioning properly for a long time, starts to resurrect. I can’t convey it in words! © GAARA90 / Pikabu

• I worked as the chief accountant until I was 40. Over this time, I realized that my life was passing by and that I completely belonged to my work. Numbers, reports, and other stuff were always there, whirling in my head. I couldn’t relax morally for about 5 years. I decided to quit cold turkey, bought tools, and started to repair apartments. I make the same money, but I have much more free time. © Overheard / VK

• This is Sergei Gilev in the photo below. He is 40 years old. He had been working as the content manager on Sports.ru for 9 years. When he was 32, he decided to take classes to be an actor. First, he was getting random roles here and there, but in the summer of 2020, Sergei played a very important villain role in the most discussed TV series of the summer — Chiki. © yurydud / Instagram

• My aunt graduated with a Geography degree and had always been working in engineering geology, but when she was 40, she decided to change something in her life. She learned Spanish and worked in Mexico for 6 months. Now she is finishing her master’s degree in Philology as a teacher of Russian for foreigners, and is raising her daughter at the same time. © blackthorn_g / Twitter

• A friend of mine graduated with a degree in finance in 2003. He was working at a bank and was successfully moving along the career ladder. But then he realized that medicine was his true mission in life, he got a scholarship to study at a medical university, and studied there for 7 years. Now he works as a “robotics” surgeon — he replaces worn joints with titanium ones and brings back the joy of living a full life to people. © Dobriak81 / Pikabu

“My mom graduated with her Ph.D. in social work. Her goal was to graduate by 60 and she did it with a year to spare.”

• I’d never dreamt about a big wedding, but this was this event that changed my life. I used to work in the financial sphere for 8 years before my wedding and I hated my work. Then I met my future husband, he proposed to me, and we started to organize the wedding (most of the organizational work was on me). I liked the process so much that I decided to go back to school and then changed my job and shifted to a wedding agency. Now I am a wedding planner! And I am extremely happy that I wasn’t afraid to make changes. © Overheard / VK

• I started to paint after having migrated to another country and losing the opportunity to work in my profession. I was 33 at that moment. I am a self-taught artist. Over the span of 4 years, I became a full-time commercial painter. That’s my only source of income and I do quite well for myself. © ThistleArts / Twitter

“Before becoming a hairdresser, my father worked as an economist for 14 years. Today, his schedule is filled one month in advance.”

• At 31, I quit my sales job and started to design interfaces. I attended some courses, did an internship, and continued to work where I did the internship. It’s been 2 years since I started to feel like a happy person. © antonstvo / Twitter

“What started as a hobby selling refurbished PCs out of my garage has grown into a successful side-business, selling at least 5 computers a week.”

• I had been working in sales for a long time — from selling disks and mobile phones to water-powered equipment. At the last place I worked, I got into a period of neurosis and depression, I wasn’t sleeping well, and my health was getting worse and worse. I felt pukey about my work, both literally and figuratively. The thought that I would have to be in the office again brought me to an abyss of sadness. So I quit.
  After staying at home for 2 weeks, I came across a vacancy for a blacksmith apprentice at one plant. And soon afterward, my life has changed greatly. Yes, this work is hard and dangerous, but it’s thanks to it that I managed to regain my inner peace and self-confidence. I got interested in computer numerical control and started to study this “dark” art. And now I realize that I am happy to go to work and that I am waiting to start it, even if it’s hard. My sleep has become wonderful, my protruding tummy and skinny arms disappeared, my newly-grown muscles replaced the fat I used to have, and my overall well-being has greatly improved. The main thing is that I saw myself from a new perspective. I was initially afraid to change my line of work, but I have never regretted making this decision. © Abadonna88 / Pikabu

Do you know people who were not afraid to change their profession, even though they’d been doing it for a while? Or maybe you yourself have had this kind of experience?