The grass is always greener at the other side of the fence

When we are young, we can’t wait to grow up. When we get older, we try to “stop” time and the ageing process with botox or plastic surgery or numerous expensive creams and whatnots! The dark wants to be fair; the fair wants to be tanned. Those who have curly hair would go for rebonding to straighten their hair and those who have straight hair would go for perms. Those who are short want to be tall. Then there are the tall ones who want to be petite. We are never satisfied with what we have.

It’s been a while now that I have thought of getting out of the rat race. It is tiring and I am fed-up with the office politics that pervade every corporate job I ever had. More so now that I am in a position to deal with it “up close and personal”. I had thought lecturing and writing were good alternatives. The only drawback is earning enough to support the lifestyle I am used to. During Friday’s dinner with my ex colleagues from Mars, again the topic of conversation centred upon office politics. Interesting enough, I was not the only one who has thoughts of getting out of the rat race and getting into lecturing or training or project management.

Now, let’s wind back to a couple of weeks ago. I had a conversation with a couple of lecturers who happen to be my friends as well. I was quite surprised to discover that a few of them wants to venture into the corporate world. Despite some reservations, they seem drawn to the idea of working in the corporate world.

A few weeks before that, I discovered that another lecturer friend has actually left the profession and joined the corporate world as she was absolutely pissed off with the politics she had to deal with in college. Nine months down the line now, she is questioning her reasons for leaving lecturing.

However, I am still determined to continue with my future plans of getting out of the rat race. I recognise that there will always be politics wherever I go but I believe that politics in academia would be more manageable than those in the corporate world.

Is that myopia on my part? Is this one of those cases of the grass being greener at the other side of the fence? Perhaps … perhaps not.