The Ghost in the Office Chair

Dear Delyara, I spent fifteen years as the 'reliable' employee. I was the first one in and the last one out, grinding my youth into spreadsheets and corporate goals that weren't mine. My 'Grind' was the slow erasure of my personality. I forgot how to laugh loudly; I forgot how to have an opinion that wasn't a 'bullet point.' My family only saw me as a person who was always tired and always checking his phone. One night, my youngest asked me what my favorite color was, and I couldn’t answer. I had become a ghost. My Victoria didn't come from a promotion. It came the day I walked into my boss’s office and said 'No' to a weekend project. I reclaimed my Saturdays. I reclaimed my identity. Now, when my son asks me a question, I’m actually there to hear it. The victory is being a human being again, not just a gear in a machine.