-= Random Ramblings... =-

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

The Mysterious Future

My life has come to an interesting crossroads. One path is familiar, and while it doesn't have many surprises it's been worn down and eroded by the constant plodding of my tired feet. I've been traveling this path for many years now, and the same old obstacles have been getting more difficult as the path gets worn down. The other path is unfamiliar. I'm sure there are a few surprises down that way, and many obstacles that I can't yet see. The path is fresh, new and exciting. It's about as different from the familiar path as you can get.

What this clumsy metaphor is getting at is that things have come to a point where I needed to make a decision. Stay on the old, rutted path or get off of it and explore a new direction. The choice wasn't easy, the new path offers many opportunities but also presents new risks. The old path is comfortable, but has obstacles that seem to be getting larger and more difficult to navigate. In the end, the choice was made to try the new path. Explore new areas, enjoy new scenery, face new challenges. Unfortunately the new path takes me away from California, and the life I've built here.

Avoiding the tired cliches, the problem is that since I lost my job at Codeit I've been struggling financially. I found a great company to work for, they just happen to be too far away from where I want to live, and my salary requirements are above what they're paying me. They've offered to bring my salary up to my minimum requirement, but in exchange for longer hours and more hard work. Sadly, programming no longer holds my interest as much as it once did. The stress, the long hours, the uncertainty of working for a startup, all these things have taken their toll on me. It's just not fun anymore.

During the three months that I was unemployed I received some advice from one of my senseis. He told me that I should give real estate a try. He was sure that with my personality I would do well in that business. So I figured I'd give it a shot. I took the three week Real Estate Principles course, with a two day review the weekend before my real estate exam and passed the exam on my first try. In between finishing the course and taking the exam (about a two month wait) I took a programming job at Infostreet. The job came at just the right time, as I was pretty much all out of money by then, but now I had everything I needed to apply for a real estate license and no time with which to put it to use. So here was my crossroads. Here is the decision that had to be made.

Sometime in May, probably around the middle, me and Mirella (my wife!) are packing up our stuff and moving to Florida. My parents live out there, and my mom is selling mortgages and working on getting her real estate license so she can sell property too. They offered to let us stay out there rent free and help me pay the few bills I have left while I get my Florida real estate license and work with my mom getting some experience. When I start making my own money I'll put some serious effort into paying off my substantial credit card bills and put some money in the bank. When I think I've got enough money, I'll move back to California. With some experience under my belt, and some money in the bank, it'll be easier to get a job out here and get started. The plan is to get a car dolly, and a hitch for my truck, and drive to Florida towing Mirella's car. At the very least it'll be an interesting trip.

This whole thing makes me think of a poem that I'm sure is familiar to most people.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hopefully it'll make all the difference to me too.

3 Comments:

  • Just remember that nothing is ever as big or serious as it first seems. If you take things in stride it makes them much more managable (and in every situation there is a bit of humor, if you allow yourself to see it)

    By Blogger A, at 2:58 AM  

  • I was just being a drama queen. I'm not really freaked out or depressed about anything, I'm actually really looking forward to the change of pace. Things in my professional life have just seemed to be stagnating for the past few years and I've been wanting to switch to something different. Now I have that chance. Sucks that I have to move all the way across the country to do it, but I'm 100% sure that I'll be coming back, so it's not that big a deal.

    By Blogger Foxpaw, at 11:34 AM  

  • wow.. big changes. it sounds exciting and just what you need right now. /cheer :)

    By Blogger mileena, at 11:10 AM  

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