by Nadine Salameh

Created on: January 20, 2008

I have spent my entire life never satisfied, always wanting more. This is a deep-rooted character trait of mine, passed on from my insatiable mother to me, and then from me to my oldest son. Seeing it manifested in my eight year-old son really brings the negative side of this tendency to light. My son played tackle football for the first time this fall, and although he played every minute of every game with positions on both offense and defense, it was still not enough for him. He wanted to carry the ball, to throw game-winning passes, to score touchdowns. While his attitude about it was frustrating to my husband, my son's innate desire to be a star player was all too familiar to me. And even though I repeatedly told him that he should be proud of himself, that other kids would be thrilled to be in his shoes rather than sitting on the sidelines, I doubt I sounded very convincing to him. I am sure that he witnessed my whining and moaning over the years each time my restlessness got the best of me.

I went through one of those times just recently, in fact. Yesterday, my boss called me into his office and gently let me know that I did not get it. The promotion I wanted, that is. Well, I think I wanted it anyway. The interview process for this higher level position took almost two months, so I had plenty of time to question my motives for applying. Last year when I made the decision to leave a demanding, high stress job managing twenty-five people to take the job I currently have managing me, myself, and I, I was positive that my desire to rule the world had gone away. Apparently, it just lay dormant in my mind, waiting for the opportunity to resurface.

Based on my track record, I really shouldn't have needed a change yet. It should have been another year before the desire for something more sent me in search of a new challenge. My current role was just what I wanted a year and a half ago when I started-more flexibility, less stress, and less responsibility than my previous position at another company. I even started exercising again and lost fifteen of the twenty pounds I gained over the previous five years. I acquired leg muscles that I never had before. I ran my first half marathon, then my second, and I recently achieved my goal to run a third in under two hours.

On top of getting back into a regular fitness routine, I stopped dreaming about work or waking up suddenly in a panic over something I forgot to do. I was able to leave my work at the office most days,

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