Strike Out On Your Own or Stay With The Known?

Life is full of big decisions.  What makes them difficult is that when you're making them, you're never sure how they are going to turn out.  This lack of certainty can be daunting to the point where the least risky path is the one chosen, even if it doesn't provide the most fulfillment or reward.

Back when I was working in the banking industry, it was almost universally true that if you asked anyone you worked with, "So if you won the lottery, would you still work here?", the answer would be an emphatic, "No!".  Which suggests, of course, that people had made the decision to stay with a stable paycheck at the cost of pursuing an interest that inspired them.  (Note: The paycheck turned out to be less than stable for me and plenty of other people who became casualties of the economic crisis, but for the majority of employees, it has remained so.  Also, I can think of one notable exception who would have answered, "Yes!" as emphatically as others answered "No!", and he was running the most successful credit union in Southern California.  He is one of the people for whom his inspiration resulted in the stable paycheck, and working for and with him was a daily example of the positive impact one can have on others when they pursue what inspires them.)

So this is a classic Catch-22, right?  Stay with the company and sacrifice your dreams while collecting a paycheck and (hopefully) building your 401(k) to the point where you can pursue your interests in retirement (assuming your health holds up), or risk the stable paycheck to pursue your dreams now and hope you are able to support yourself in the process.  Both paths have benefits; both have costs.

The answer to this dilemma is highly personal, and dependent on your belief system.  While researching near-death experiences for Rubbed Out, I ran across a quote from Aeschylus, the Greek playwright who specialized in tragedies along with Sophocles and Euripides.  This quote provides a lot of comfort to anyone who has struggled with the question posed above.  Here it is:

"…neither does anyone, however many wounds he may have received, die, unless he has run his allotted term of life: nor does any man, though he sits quietly by the fireside under his own roof, escape the more his fated doom."

My interpretation?  Play it as safe or as risky as you'd like.  You will achieve the purpose you came into this world to fulfill regardless of the path you choose.  It is why you are here.  You cannot dodge it, or fail to accomplish it by the choices you make.

Seem like predestination to you?  Seem like you don't have to think about any decisions at all, just do what you want because it doesn't matter?  I disagree.  People make decisions based on what they interpret to be their own best interests.  That is all anyone needs to do.  What you consider to be your best self-interest is based on your beliefs and will guide you to accomplish your purpose.  So choose the option that feels best to you, and then stop worrying about it and do the absolute best you can at whatever task your chosen path has placed in front of you.  Everything else will work out.

Speaking of near-death experiences, the research I am doing for Rubbed Out is sensational.  I've reviewed dozens of first hand accounts of people who have clinically died and returned (heart stopped anywhere from 3 to 57 minutes), and reported on what they experienced while dead.  One quote from a man who had died from the bends after a diving accident resonated so much with the Aeschylus quote that it stopped me in my tracks.  He said, "By the time we got to the hospital I didn't want to fight anymore.  I thought that what is going to happen is going to happen, and I'm not going to be able to change it."  I can't wait to write this book.  The writing starts on Friday.

Have a terrific day!  Read something that makes you question what you believe!  It's the best way to know that you believe in your beliefs!   Thanks for reading.  -Jon