When, Essentially
I’ve been dealing with a lot of “when” questions lately that I really think I’m gonna run out of answers and just end up blurting “it won’t be soon before long” just like Adam Levine said about Maroon 5 latest album (yes, for the last three days I’ve been committing an affair from John Mayer by taking him off the playlist on my iPod, replacing him with Adam’s irresistibly sexy voice).
Anyway, back to the whole when issue, one of the most popular questions that I’ve been getting for the last three weeks (mostly from my friends): “When’s your book gonna come out on t
he book stores?” This is an easy one: next week (dan mumpung bulan muda, jangan lupa beli yang banyak ya hehehe).
Next week will also mark my fifth anniversary working for this bank (God, time flies!). Never thought I won’t be tempted to be another “kutu loncat korporasi.” It’s only honest to say that I’ve not always been really good with long-term commitments. My “ikatan dinas” with this bank has been over for a year now, which means I don’t have to pay the “in-breach-of-contract fine” in the ridiculous amount of five times what my car worth - if you can grasp the concept in your mind (I barely can). Think of it as a divorce without the obligation to pay the alimony. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Some of friends who have actually changed the name of the company on their business cards (at least once) keep on asking me: “When are you gonna follow our foot steps?” Then I remember something that my friend said: “If you’re deciding to leave your company when you’re feeling unhappy, then it’s probably not a very good decision because you can’t guarantee that it’s not the emotion that drive your thought.” He then said that the best time to decide whether you’re gonna leave or not is actually when you’re feeling happy and comfortable with where you are right now, because then, it’s the logic that drive you, not plain emotion.
(I stopped for a while as I was about to write the next sentences, wondering if my boss is gonna read this hahaha). Honestly, I am happy and comfortable with where I am right now for more reasons than one, hence this is the best time to pull or hold that “resign” trigger, right? And I have been tempted and lured with better packages (let’s just say that I won’t have to join Shopaholic Anonymous if I were to decide to take some of those offers). But - I can’t believe I’m saying this - money is not everything. There are other divine things like opportunity to grow, career path, opportunity to take on challenges, position, location, health coverage, and of course: the people that you work with. And my professional life has been more than rewarding. The other day I just heard that I was thisclose of being recruited by other directorate in my bank. It sounds very interesting, but it also means leaving business banking, the thing that I’ve been doing for the last three years and already beginning to be very good at. Somehow it feels like being a heart surgeon who’s suddenly told to perform pap smear. But it also feels like having to choose between “sticking to what you’re very good at and eventually be a specialist” to “trying out new challenges to see how good you really are at everything else.” What would you do if you were me?
The next one is such a cliché, I know. And I hate to fall into it. But professional life does take its toll on your personal life, one way or the other (especially when you spend almost twelve hours at the office every single day). “When is the wedding date?” I bet this essential question will come up at least a dozen times this Lebaran season. And replying it with “tunggu aja tanggal mainnya” one time too many is just beginning to sound so lame. But then again, you can’t really predict when you’re gonna meet someone who can stack up to the one man that you measure everyone against. Then, you ask, why don’t I just marry the one man that I measure everyone against? That, sadly, is a whole other story that deserves its own book.
