Is This As Good As It Gets?

The weekend has been a hectic one for me. Basically, it has been hectic since the beginning of last week when I had to go to Jakarta for a one day business trip. There is just so much to do in so little time, it feels like being asked to eat 5 large super supreme pizzas in 5 minutes, only that eating pizzas would at least be a more attractive proposition.

In my quest to try get more things done in a day, I have trained myself to utilise as much free time as possible to do work, and am now training myself to begin my day as early as 4 in the morning to cover more ground. It seems like the only way out of this predicament that work has put me in.

It's just a bit sad when you think of it, how much we have to endure just to make a living. Well, I do not intend to sound ungrateful with the situation I'm currently in. At least I do have a job, a roof to live under, a car that I can drive around with, enough food to bring back home at the end of the day, and with some spare change to plan for the ocassional family holidays. I can still say that my situation is much better than probably millions of people out there who are probably not as fortunate to have these basic needs at their disposal. Given such considerations, I know I should be happy.

But is this as good as it gets? The lifestyle of leaving home for work at the break of dawn, and returning only once after the sun has set, not being able to spend quality time with your family? Getting stressed over the organisation's business at work, getting pushed to swallow 5 or more equally urgent things to get done in a week, resulting in consistent stress and pressure that you dream about the assignmens you've not done even in your sleep? Not being able to give more back to your parents now when they're still around and healthy, because there is just isn't enough time because of the work, and money because you make only a measly amount of salary? Wifey had to stay in the office yesterday till 10 at night to finish a report for submission today (yeah on Sunday), missing a family dinner we had last night.

Again, is this really as good as it get?

It has made me to reflect upon what we're doing, and why we're doing it. Is this life in the corporate world something that I have to contend with for the rest of my life? Am I really enjoying doing what I'm doing, solving the company's problems, dealing with difficult people and situations, and probably won't get rewarded as well as the other person who is a better employee and and high-flying 'servant' of the company? Do I want to be rewarded as such anyway, and being given even more work and having to give more of my time for the extra special perks that come with the job and position, and having no time to enjoy them anyway because the work will not allow me to do so?

Really it has got me thinking.

I was browsing through the net today and incidentally bumped into this article of how some teenagers in the USA and UK have made it big by pursuing ventures which they have real passion in, and pressed on those passion to become teenage millionaires. While the other kids in this teenage success stories made their mints from the internet, the succes of Fraser Doherty from Edinburgh, Scotland probably means much more as he made it big by only selling jams from his grandmother's recipe, which he started out by selling to his neighbours in his neighbourhood in Edinburgh. He practically started the business in the kitchen of his parents' home, at the age of only 14! And now at age 19, his jams are now selling at Tescos and Waitroses chains across the UK and his worth is estimated to be around $1 million - $2 million. I would probably get to that amount at 55 upon my retirement, and even then accounting for effects of inflations in the future, it would probably be good just good enough to put me in a retirement home! Doherty's advice sounds so simple yet inspiring, "Have an attitude of adventure, and enjoy the journey."

Teenage millionaire, Fraser Doherty. "I can't be preoccupied with the money," says Doherty. "I make jam because it's what I love to do." I hope I can say the same about what I'm doing for a living...

I wish I have that sense of adventure, and the courage to explore the possibilities out there. I need to open my eyes, and learn what makes these people succeed in these enterprises they are in. Life has so much to offer, and all I do about it is sit behind a desktop computer in the office over 12 hours a day, and getting paid just enough to last until my next paycheck. My life feels wasted in here to get by every month, while some people are getting rich doing something they have fun doing.

I am convinced this is not as good as it gets. And I endeavour to do something about it.