Today at work 2 promotions have been announced. Both of them are positions that I would have enjoyed getting. Unfortunately I would have had to turn down both of them had I had the joy of having them offered to me as they both would have involved a move away from Cape Town. That may seem a little silly except if you consider that my family is happy! These are not the first that I have had to consider BUT they have occurred under the control of my boss and while they are not in Cape Town, they are close to home. And hence I have been thinking.........



I feel a twinge of regret, this was the position that I have striven to be for many years in this company. with my resignation, it can never be. I was trying to work out why this is important to me. I suppose that I am still ambitious, I still want to be seen to be doing well in the world. In a nutshell I still long for the power and presitge of the position as well as that special entry in my CV. This is very interesting as I well know that I would not earn any more with this kind of move. If I think carefully, power and prestige are mostly transitory concepts - they will not last. As for the entry on my CV - well I hope never to go back into the corporate environment and so hopefully will never need the entry. Yet deep down inside of me, an illogical and emotional part of me is saying it regrets missing this opportunity! I will need to deal with this.



The deision that I have made to carve out a new life for myself and my family is full of positive things. Sure the key negative is that there is NO garantee of any money coming in next year BUT this too is a challenge to myself - can I make it happen? Can I grasp opportunities and make them work for me? This way my family stays happy, networks of friends that we have worked hard to build will remain in place, the kids will remain in good schools where they are doing well, and we get to stay in our wonderful house and neighbourhood. Apart from some of the status quo stuff, my family and I get to spend more time together (hopefully valuable time). I hope that we will grow closer together and I hope that my influence at home will equip my children with the skills they need to grow into good men.



They say that you need to lead by example. This is my example!