Being a US Citizen living outside the USA I get alot of interesting and sometimes StRAngE questions/comments on the USA from people in other countries. Thought I'd share some of them with you.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Decision Time Nexus

You know those times in your life you can look back on, and you can see exactly where specific pathways converged and diverged with specific actions or decisions on your part setting your feet on the path to where you are now?

And I don't mean that time you decided to pee on a tree, or cop a squat instead of taking a 10 mile detour to find a gas station with a toilet. I mean those points of time where major influences where at work that set MAJOR directions in your life.

We all have major decision times, but these are truly significant Nexi or Confluences of pathways that determine your lifes true path. These aren't just prevailing winds, this is the Jet-Stream of your life.

Well I'm hitting another one of those in the next few days, and for the first time in my life I don't know which direction I want it to take.

I'm a very Yes/No person. I've always been very clearly decisive. I don't see the world in black and white, but I see my own decisions that way. Things are either done or not. Cook or get out of the kitchen. Shit or get off the pot. As Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no 'Try'".

I think I'm more stressed by not knowing what I want, than by waiting for others to tell me what they want me to do. The options I will supposedly be given are...
1. Promoted and stay in Thailand
2. Promoted and move to Shanghai, China
3. No local promotion but accept a transfer to USA to take on a new focus area globally
4. Quit, go back to USA and do my own thing.

All of those are good things. So how do I choose? All of them mean better quality of life, better education for my kids, and better career prospects. Item 4 means starting my own business which has rewards and risks all it's own, but comes with a heavy short term price tag that means the first few years will be very very tight financially, but the rewards long-term could exceed anything I can receive working for someone else. Its just the financial risk when I have a family to care for that worries me. The first 3 all mean better salary, benefits and dependent support.

So how do you choose when everything looks good, and you want all of them?

I've got gail-force winds, a clear sky, and I'm ready to sail, but my compass is broken.

5 Comments:

Blogger Siren said...

I know this sounds like New Age Hooey, and not at all like something I would suggest, but I did a few sessions with a hypnotherapist that does neurolinguistic programming at a time in my life when I felt "stuck," and it actually really worked to get me unstuck. And I have gone back a time or two to get tweaked when I started to get stuck again. More info here: http://www.phoenix-services.org.

What they do is more or less distract your conscious mind and have aconversation with your unconscious mind. The goal isn't to fix the problem, but to help you have the tools to fix the problem yourself. It's extremely powerful stuff, and actually not that new-agey in practice. If you can find a practitioner of those techniques, I highly recommend it.

If not, try this technique for self-hypnosis: http://www.phoenix-services.org/betty.htm

I hope that it helps. Much love, S.

10:05 AM

 
Blogger Biscuit said...

You're in a tough place. Could you do #3 while working on #4 in the background?

Why does that sound like potty humor?

Best of luck in your decision making.

8:22 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

At least they are all good options. It's like making a decision at the ice-cream store. Is there really a bad choice? Usually I have found that the choice with the greatest risk also has the greatest reward. But, of course, I have turned my decision making over to the Army.

6:09 AM

 
Blogger Raleigh the Mann said...

Wow, so this is exactly the spots in life you should savor as long as possible! Imagine being at the exact cross-roads and recognizing this is where the paths diverge! This is how you separate the men from the boys? Adults from kids? Wheat from chaff? Dunno but I LOVE being in that spot. Keeps the hear rate up. Bully for you man! Now, COWBOY up and pick a horse. Ride the biatch until it runs out of gas... -Raleigh

12:23 AM

 
Blogger KellyKline said...

Well ... I want what's best for you and your family. But I'd also love for you to be back in the US. Do what's right for you.

11:57 AM

 

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