Not Being Rich
26th February 2007
Let's rewind a number of years to see where I was way back when.
(If it helps, imagine the screen goes all blurry and wobbly at this point.)
A number of years ago, I was the head of the development division of a company called Enabling Technologies.
Enabling was really going places and so was I. I had
successfully deployed several large I.T. projects, one of which had
just won an national I.T. award for innovation. Money was being
thrown at me, it stuck, and I liked it. Being one of key guys at
Enabling, I was offered a five percent shareholding in the business and
I jump at the opportunity. I got them for an absolute steal.
Now, lets zoom forward a number of years to the present day.
(Insert more blurriness and wobbliness at this point to indicate a return to normal transmission if it helped you before).
Enabling continues to kick butt. It now has
branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch and good ol' Dunedin. They have become a world class I.T.
provider. I know certain people weren't too confident of Enabling's
success ("Oh look, another I.T.
start-up. They'll never make it"). I know some of the doubters have
changed their tune and now want to be part of Enabling's success.
I put a lot of Enabling's success down to the way it treats its
employees. They certainly went above and beyond the call of duty
in supporting me when I feel into the deep dark hole of mental illness.
Rock on Enabling! You deserve much success.
A condition of owning my shares at Enabling was that I
continue to work there. There was some legal mumbo-jumbo but
basically I ended up selling them to fund my five month stay at Ashburn Psychiatric Hospital. Ashburn is a private hospital and $NZ 2,000 a week added up pretty quickly...
Now, here I am. My last two years of living the high life has taken
its toll - I am worse than flat broke as I owe a lot of money.
The question I can't help but ask myself, is where would I be
if I hadn't gone crazy, hadn't sold my shares, and hadn't buggered off
to foreign parts?
Well for one thing, I'd be rich. The shares must be
worth some huge amount by now, not to mention the dividends, bonuses
and wages that would of come my way. I'm sure I'd have a freehold
house, some cool car and numerous doo-dads which we all enjoy.
I look back at my decision with some regret. I
imagine some might think, "You had a five percent shareholding in a
kick-butt company, and you resigned, and sold your shares? Huh?!"
I would like to be more financially stable. I would like
a freehold house. I would like numerous doo-dads and not have to
worry about paying for my South Korean airfare.
Money is nice and I think we all like it to some degree.
It gives you options and backups. If you lose your job then
hey, it doesn't matter as you've got a bucket load of money to fall
back on. Ditto for getting sick and other large expenses.
I think money is best summed up by the Buddhist philosophy of
the middle way. Having no money clearly presents problems.
Just take a look at Kitgum, Buduburum Refugee Camp, the Philippines
and so on (and on and on...). If I had no money, I would not of
been able to go to the said places and, in my own minute little way,
help out in some small way. Similarly having too much presents
its own problems. I had "too much" during my time at Enabling and
clearly was not a happy chappy.
There is some happy little middle ground that we can all be
happy in. I don't want much money, but just enough to fund my
volunteer junkets.
If I had a magical device and could go back and change my decision and not resign from Enabling, would I?
Nope.
I've enjoyed the last two years far too much for that. Doing what I do does not make me rich, but it does make me happy.
Now, if only I had enough money to buy a new 30gb i-pod...
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2005, 2006 and 2007 Malcolm Trevena.
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