Professormak’s Weblog

Recently I was at a crossroads in my life. I had to decide which direction to go. There was an opportunity for me to take a promotion at the job which would result in my migration from mere supervisory to management level. The package included increase in remuneration, the opportunity to travel regionally frequently, increased decision powers and other perks. It goes without saying that these would be accompanied by additional responsibilities and obligations, increased work hours and more STRESS.

Building a career is important and it can be used as a measure of our performance and achievement. But life is bigger than just career and monetary achievements and the bottom line is our individual happiness. It has been said often that there are some things that money cant buy and indeed one of these is happiness.

In my time I have seen a few people lose sight of the real purpose of life, chase the glory of a professional high caliber career and wind up losing out on the finer things in life. It can be summed up in the Biblical quotation “What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul.”

In my case I had to balance LIFE, the bigger picture. I was recently married and looking forward to building a strong family relationship. I think that the finer things in life are enjoyed through sharing quality time with family and friends and no amount of career success can substitute this. Ain’t no point having millions and you are a stranger to your kids. worse, if relations deteriorate to the point of divorce you will have to kiss your millions bye anyway.

It was not a difficult decision to make because I knew what I was looking for from life. For me it is better to be financially comfortable, stress free and happy than to be career accomplished and possibly rich but downright miserable. I refused the promotion.

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ProfessorMak.