Freezing Fog

“I don’t play that game because I know for sure I won’t win.”

What am I grateful for?

It’s tougher today. The fog knocks life into you as soon as you cross the threshold. It knocks sense into your face and burns the inner nostrils.

But it is hard not to be grateful for this freezing time of the morning. The meat market is in full flow, blokes in white jackets taking no shit. The lycra crew speeding on by and adhering to red lights. The lone long-coated Goldman exec taking their austere morning walk.

You know what? I’m grateful for them. “Them”.
The “them” I mean here are the Goldmans.

I hold a certain level of contempt for the finance workers (unimaginative, just following a corporate path, commitment to being unhappy, unimportant work) but maybe part of that is a form of jealousy.

I deeply respect the work ethic. I like the frankness. I’m convinced they are doing an important service to society, albeit mostly hidden.

Maybe I respect it, and McKinsey and a PhD at Oxford — because I don’t think I could do it. I have great capacity in my realm, but I feel they’ve all shown much greater capacity in their respective fields.

I don’t play that game because I know for sure I won’t win.

So I am grateful for “them”, grateful to be connected with so many hard-working people on a different path because it does inspire me on my own journey.