Don't worry, I don't think this is a mid-life crisis, but with so much attention being paid to the financial crisis, and greed, and wealth (or lack of it), I've come back to a question that haunts me from time to time.
Hopefully without seeming too full of myself, let me tell you that I'm pretty sure I could have made a lot of money in my career. I graduated high in my class from a solid professional school and had some offers to make a lot of coin right after graduation. I didn't. I chose instead to go to work for the Federal Government and recently celebrated 15 years of public service. Needless to say, I haven't become rich working for the Government. I'm not starving, but I do drive a ten year old car with 150K miles on it (but it gets 36 mpg so who's complaining?).
So was that the right choice? Is a life of service (I almost said "was") worth the sacrifice of the extra money that I could have made doing other, more corporate things? I have always thought so, and almost believed so, but I've never been sure how I could put that belief into words. I was never quite sure how I would explain to my son (once he is old enough to understand even) why his father chose not to make all the money he could.
As with most other things, someone else has said it much more eloquently than I ever could. And not surprisingly, it is a quote from one of my heroes, John F Kennedy. On the occasion of the 1961 State of the Union address, he said: "Let every man and woman who works in any area of our national government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and with honor in future years, 'I served the United States Goverment in that hour of our nation's need.'"
And I am able to say that. And I say it with pride and with honor.
Hopefully without seeming too full of myself, let me tell you that I'm pretty sure I could have made a lot of money in my career. I graduated high in my class from a solid professional school and had some offers to make a lot of coin right after graduation. I didn't. I chose instead to go to work for the Federal Government and recently celebrated 15 years of public service. Needless to say, I haven't become rich working for the Government. I'm not starving, but I do drive a ten year old car with 150K miles on it (but it gets 36 mpg so who's complaining?).
So was that the right choice? Is a life of service (I almost said "was") worth the sacrifice of the extra money that I could have made doing other, more corporate things? I have always thought so, and almost believed so, but I've never been sure how I could put that belief into words. I was never quite sure how I would explain to my son (once he is old enough to understand even) why his father chose not to make all the money he could.
As with most other things, someone else has said it much more eloquently than I ever could. And not surprisingly, it is a quote from one of my heroes, John F Kennedy. On the occasion of the 1961 State of the Union address, he said: "Let every man and woman who works in any area of our national government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and with honor in future years, 'I served the United States Goverment in that hour of our nation's need.'"
And I am able to say that. And I say it with pride and with honor.
No comments:
Post a Comment