Born Free

This post, dear reader, is an indirect result of reading this.

Getting a salary at the end of the month is a truly wonderful thing. There's money in the bank, and there's pubs and restaurants and bookstores and theaters and motorcycles and so many other things. All of which may not be quite as within reach without the dog tag around your neck.

On the other hand, there's Mondays. There's appraisals, politics, charts in Excel, deliverables, client calls, presentations, Microsoft Powerpoint, client visits and an invisible chain that binds you effortlessly to your desk - five days a week. Your time is not yours, your work is not yours and you are the company's.

As with most other things in life, there's the good; and there's the bad.

The trouble is, the salary is just too good a deal to pass up. The safety, the guarantee, the respect that only comes out of being able to write "Salaried" under Occupation when you fill up a form is too enticing a safety net. Late Friday nights and slow Monday afternoons are pin pricks that cause momentary discomfort, that's all.

Every now and then, though, life throws up a twist in the tale, and a brief window of opportunity shows itself fleetingly. Not once or twice, upon reflection; I've had quite a few chances - and perhaps so have you. You've come within the proverbial inch of upping and doing it - hang the consequences. But as with me, perhaps the fever has subsided for you as well. Reason has returned to it's throne, and common sense has once again won the day.

But as with me, perhaps the dream lives on for you as well. It festers and it throbs. It subsides when the bonus is announced, and it goes dormant upon finally getting that promotion. Terminal decline is almost achieved with the onset of EMI-itis.

It lives on though; it can't die, you see, for it is the real you. And opportunity keeps knocking, perhaps a little more feebly each time, but it knocks.

And for the umpteenth time, I stand at yet another crossroads, and for the umpteenth time I wonder. I start to take the plunge, and I hesitate. Well meaning friends, relatives, colleagues and acquaintances offer advise. As, I suppose, would I if the position were reversed.

As were you, dear reader, I too was born free. I too have shackled myself, and I too hesitate to listen to my heart.

I'll let you know how it turns out - one way or the other.

In the meantime -  pray for me, brother.

Cheers.