George,

I don't know if this is a pick me up or not, but hopefully it will help a little.  I have been in this business for almost 10 years and have seen the very good and very bad aspects of it.  It almost feels like this industry picks you, not the other way around.  I have taken breaks here and there and have ALWAYS come back in a different role.  It is almost like an adicction......there are actually very few people.....most on this site....that are truely talented and make this a wonderful place to make a career.  No matter which side of it you are on...the people on the Title Company andVM side have as many issues with what happens as the abstractors in the field do.  Unfortunately, the people that usually make the decisions are not the same people that are what make this business a blessing but a curse.

What I have come to accept for myself is that all I can do is take the good things that I have learned over the years and apply them to the position I am in now.  My reputation and drive do my talking for me.  Anyone on this site that has ever worked for me can hopefully back me up on that . 
  When I first started in this business, I didn't even know what a deed was.  I could type really well, that what got me the job.  But I learned everything i could and moved on.  The next company I was at I learned even more but stuck to what I had become really good at.  I then took a 4 year break to be at home with my boys.  When I decieded that I was ready for the welcome break of a full time job, I considered doing something else but was drawn back in. I had the great fortune to find the niche that I excelled at and when the time came that I saw that what I believed in and what the company believed in were vastly different, I left.

I now have a great opportunity to do what I love without having to explain myself to people that don't have a clue. I know that I will make the people who choose to work for me comfortable.  

Hopefully, I have helped a little.  if not, take a vacation and think about it.