About a month ago, I started worrying about the state of my financial affairs. My foreign projects dried up and local clients weren't exactly knocking on my door, either. One big project went up in smokes. It is the third quarter of the year already and things haven't really improved a bit. This hasn't happened to me before. An ominous sign.
After so many years of self-employment, I have finally thrown in the towel and will start work on Monday. An 8-to-5 office job. I have been out-of-the-loop for quite a while, adjusting to corporate life once more will take some time.
Until the middle of this year I was earning in US dollars and way above the local rates. It was a fact I was so damn proud of because I was my own boss: no Monday morning blues, no boss to report to, no nosy officemates. Working from home and armed only with my laptop and phone I conducted projects that cut across timezones. You see, I used to thumb my nose down on local wages, I called it "slave wages." But things have changed. I have learned to swallow my pride and will be taking on a job that doesn't even pay half what I used to earn. How the Mighty has fallen. It is a humbling experience.
Although some of my colleagues went on to become senior officers or have gone abroad for greener pastures, I seem to be stuck here. And for the first time, I was unable to send something to my parents back home.
Anyhow, I guess I really have no reason to complain. I need to learn to count my blessings and to cease comparing myself to others.
By the way, today is an auspicious day: 08-08-08. (My cell number has triple 4's, I am starting to believe that my unlucky streak this year may be due to this triple combination- whatever). So I wish everybody the best of luck. Hopefully, in the coming months things will be better for me.
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