“Climbing the ladder sucks and everyone is obsessed with it, yet few speak out on it.”
I had certainly spent a good part of my life obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder, almost lost my marriage over it. And for what?
For the money? For the pats on the back? For the knowledge that I’d done something with my life that makes a difference?
I don’t know about you, and I never wanted to admit this, but I don’t think I did it for any of those reasons. I think I did it because I was programmed to do it. My dad grew up in the Depression and thought he was doing the right thing–drilling into me that nothing was more important than a successful career.
And like a good little soldier, I went at it so hard and for so long that it wasn’t until I was 46 that I stopped, took a breath, and realized what was happening. I’d spent exactly half my life working and my life had become about work. I had sacrificed everything in the name of obsession.
^
I’ve seen this quite a few times, usually in those last golden hazy moments of a drunken party when you just know an unsolicited, soul-bearing revelation is about to be thrust upon you. You can politely duck out to the bathroom before it happens, but once it starts, it’s discompassionate to either leave or scream out “TMI” (too much information). Someone has chosen to share their life with you in a small way. They might be attempting to control you with guilt, but usually not. Most often, they want someone to understand in case (as it often feels with alcohol) they’re going home to a DUI death or other cataclysmic end.
Very many of these revelations have been about careers. “If I knew what I know now, I would have just taken a comfortable job and invested my savings wisely,” said one. Someone today said that she had spent over a decade working and now, she just wanted to be a mom (a harder, more important job than anything you’ll find in an office). Others have basically blamed their drug addictions on careerism. Somewhere in this busy world of surrogate symbols, we’ve lost sight of the ends for the means.