I made $153,000 a year and was miserable. Now I make nothing and wake up excited.

Maria Sentmanat quit her job at 55. Courtesy of Maria Sentmanat

This as-told-to-essay is based on a conversation with Maria Sentmanat, 55, who is based in Miami, Florida . It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm a high school dropout who came from a single-parent family. My upbringing was filled with chaos and instability. I never thought I'd end up being the type to earn a six-figure salary, but that's exactly what I ended up doing — and walking away from this year.

On paper, I was definitely successful. I had a $153,000 paycheck managing one of the largest 5K races in the country, a job I'd held for the past five years. I could have made up to $180,000 next year if I had stayed on.

The job was a new opportunity when I really needed one

You could argue it was the culmination of the fitness career I had spent 16 years building, after becoming super overweight following the birth of my daughters.…