In my mid-thirties, I chucked a well-paying job to strike out on my own. This was 2 years back. We are still in the startup phase and I still get pitying glances from “well-wishers” as they strongly feel we failed when my co-founders and I quit to start out on our own. We are so tuned to judging ourselves and giving a rating ( to ourselves) based on what others think, we will always live in fear of failure. Sad truth. lovely read 🙂