A Philosophical Conundrum
Long ago, in a place far away, I was in college (yes, Virginia, they had college back then). At that time I had an interesting debate with a philosophy professor in which I argued that everything is based on hedonism, since even the followers of Kant adhere to the tenets of duty because it makes them feel good. Since the professor graded the papers, I lost the debate.
But I wax philosophic for what will probably be my last post on this blog because I have very recently faced that same essential debate between what I want to do and what I need to do.
As many of you know, I joined Greystone.Net 18 months ago with the plan to eventually move to Atlanta where the company is based. As you may have read, the economy is struggling, so our house didn’t sell in time. With a son deep in his junior year of high school by that point, we postponed the move until he graduated, scheduled for June 2010.
Things change in life, and so it is with us. A number of family issues have arisen that make it highly problematic for us to leave the Milwaukee area, and since I couldn’t really play the role with Greystone.Net that I wanted without moving to Atlanta, we had a problem.
Fortunately, Northwestern Mutual, which is based in Milwaukee, offered me the opportunity to manage their interactive marketing, and so faced with the proverbial “bird in the hand” I made the choice to do what I needed to do, which is to stay in Milwaukee.
That means I have to leave Greystone.Net, which isn’t what I want to do. I’ll miss the gang at Greystone, our terrific clients and the interesting and challenging work. But I have to do what’s right and best for my family.
Turns out my philosophy professor was right.