Employee accepts 18k raise and promotion, quickly finds himself wishing he was back in his old job because of the increased time, stress, and responsibility: 'Now I spend 60% of my time in meetings'

An employee found themselves wishing for the simplicity of their old job after accepting a promotion that saw a significant increase in compensation but also in responsibility and commitment. 

As each of us has gone through our lives, we have likely found ourselves wishing for the relative simplicity of the time that has since passed. This is true for both our personal lives and our careers. When you're in your 30s and facing down a mortgage, family, and children, you'll find yourself sometimes wishing that you were going out on a Monday night to hang out at the bar with your friends like you used to in your early and mid-20s.

Starting this job, I was one of maybe two or three staff at any given time. And, as time has gone on, the site has grown around me. The internet and my responsibilities have changed dramatically in this time, and I have, at times, inevitably, found myself wishing for the simplicity of a time that has long since passed. A time when I could hole up for weeks at a time and doom post about unfiltered content, with unfettered commentary, without worrying much about the holistic structure of an organization, not caring about what anyone else was doing, where the business was coming from or headed, or much at all beyond the content that I was working on at that given time.

The thing is, while the idea of everything is nice and rosy in my rose-tinted rearview mirror, it never really was that sparkling and innocent. When I'm imagining sitting at that bar with my friends in my 20s, I have to remember that that lifestyle was quite chaotic, shambolic even, and wildly unsustainable. I felt lost, I felt unhappy, I felt like I was missing something and falling behind in a life that hadn't happened yet. I was uncertain where my life was going, and I often longed for the same sense of security and permanence I have today.

Likewise, in my work, I was stressed about content, scheduling, and deadlines, much the same as I am now. There was the same worry about the performance of the content and about not meeting my own impossibly high standards, which I conveniently forget every time I gaze into the crystal ball of the past.

It all comes back to Prudence, Courage, and Temperance, three of Plato's four cardinal virtues. (With the last being Justice.) When we learn to discern the appropriate course of action (prudence) and confront our uncertainty and fear (courage) while maintaining moderation, restraint, and self-control (temperance) We gain control over the direction of our life that we likely didn't think possible.

Change and challenge happens regardless of whether or not you accept it, and you can either white knuckle grip and try to hang onto things how they are, or you can grab a paddle and learn to go with the flow of it, how to read the river and watch for rocks and fallen trees and eddies that might otherwise cause you to spiral out of control (ok we're on a river analogy now are we) while waiting for those moments when there's a clean set of rapids that will speed you along the way. 

The reality is, you need these challenges and change, too; they are part of growth, and growth quite simply can't exist without them. A longing for that simple past is your mind's longing for the comfort of familiarity. Learning to take a deep breath and let go of the white-knuckle grip on the past and present is an important skill, and understanding this makes your life all the easier. 

Point being, you shouldn't just shy away from a challenge just because you're afraid of it and craving a simpler experience. But, at the same time, we won't always succeed either; failure feels like moving backward, but it's a part of moving forward.