The hidden cost of life in the restaurant industry

The restaurant world doesn’t slow down — and neither do you.
You get pulled in, heads down, solving one problem after another — and suddenly years have passed.
One day you wake up and think: How did this become my life?

You love the industry.
You hate what it’s doing to you.

It’s your passion, your income, your identity — and slowly, almost without noticing, it has crowded out everything else.

You don’t remember the last time you took three days off in a row without checking messages — or feeling uneasy the whole time.
A calm workday feels unrealistic, not normal.
Your mind doesn’t switch off; it follows you home, into bed, into your sleep.

You function because you have to.

You lead because people depend on you.
And somewhere along the way, coping replaced enjoying.

What used to be creative and meaningful now feels like permanent damage control: staffing issues, cash flow pressure, legal worries, guest complaints.
Every day, something needs your attention — and it never fully clears.

You’ve thought about leaving the industry — not because you want to, but because you don’t see how to keep going like this.
And that thought alone feels like failure.

So you keep pushing.
And quietly, the question sits there:

How long can this actually continue — before your body or your mind forces a stop?