2020-05-22 ------------------------------------------------------------------ For some time I have had the feeling that everything has a tradeoff. There are better and worse decisions and situations but nothing comes for free. Now that I have been physically at the same location for some time I have found it easier to tolerate the thought of remaining in my current job for the forseeable future. Since the options of "building a career" have dwindled down and it is hard to say what is a safe route, I find that there is a particular sort of stress missing from my daily mindscape. Basically I don't feel that to prove my worth I have to be thinking about my "next step" on some professional ladder. I have never considered that social mobility might be seen as a serious stressor to the individual, but now it seems quite clear. I suppose this is why people are pining for the old days. The time when you couldn't lose your social standing by remaining where you were. Social mobility has turned it a responsibility for a talented person to climb the ladder. ------------------------------------------------------------------