Talked to my childhood friend A after a long time today and much has transpired in his life. A month ago, he quit his job because he could not deal with the idea of having someone manage him anymore. This was a cushy job that required little effort after all these years and kept his dysfunctional marriage afloat. The wife was deeply disappointed with the decision and did not hesitate to demonstrate it. A used this as a trigger to initiate parting ways with her peacefully, with minimal harm to their two kids. When we spoke, he sounded a couple of decades younger and happier than I have known him to be in his adult years. The chain of events triggered by the arrival of his new boss, turned out to be a big blessing in his life. A is now free to act in advisory capacity for the same clients he was serving while at the job. He gets to travel a lot more - something he had been looking forward to. The kids are old enough to manage on their own for the few days he will be gone.
I have known A for as long as I remember and he was always a very patient and methodical person. Everyone who knows him values his counsel because he thinks through the consequences of actions very carefully. If you are planning to do something stupid, he will call you on it and explain his reasons. Some of us who were privy to his marriage troubles told him many times to put himself out of his misery but he always said the timing needed to be right and he would know when that is. We were not sure he would ever do it, maybe it was easier to preserve status-quo. He surprised us all and there is so much to learn from how A brought change in his life with minimal hurt and damage to those who were impacted by it.
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