"was it for this my life I sought?"

this post was going to be about Ohio drivers and my propensity to road rage, but I have to believe you can get that type of thing elsewhere. for one idea there are seemingly several web sites these days, right? in the advertising business, this sentiment is reflected in the phrase: "if it's good, it's been done." although I think sometimes this is abused by people that are covering their butt for "paying homage" to someone else's work in their most recent project--read: plagiarizing.

but I digress.

this weekend, a friend mused in person and on her blog about accepting that her job was merely a means to an end. in this particular case...a means to her financial freedom. I was happy for her, but she seemed to be looking at the bright side of things and was not too happy about this statement. she seemed to want more from her career.

that's fine, but I want to stick up for the realization that your job is a means to an end. the beauty of this is that you realize how much the rest of your life has to offer you. you are not forced to measure yourself merely by your title/paycheck/office size or location.

Now, there is nothing wrong with being career-focused. Pre-dot com days, I was a walking, talking issue of Fast Company As the dot com rage ravaged me, my wife became pregnant. This forced me to realize I was not enjoying the need for speed (speed without strategy anyway), and needed to make a change prior to our child arriving into the world. So I stepped down from a managerial position and am now one of the troops. You can do this without becoming complacent. It takes some conditioning, but you get used to having a life outside of work. Some might say, how can you make this sacrifice? These people have a different focus and do not realize what I have gotten for it in return.

The above commerical for quality of life is not necessarily directed at my friend. She has a full life and probably just wants "bigger, better, faster, MORE!" from all elements of her life--nothing wrong with this desire. There may be people out there that can do it all. But I know of one or two other friends that seem torn right now between various paths.in their life: starting a new career vs. starting a family. And I would hope they make the right decision for THEM and not for one or more of society's norms.

The title of this entry is a line from Phish's "Stash". A great band and tune I think quite appropos for summer. "Was it for this my life I sought? Maybe so and maybe not." Ask yourself the first question...knowing that if THIS IS NOT what you want out of life, you can make a change.