I have a choice to make, and I pretty much have to make it tomorrow. I’m not terribly happy about it, either.

See, I had a bright idea almost two years ago. I implemented it, and saved my office a whole lot of money. I now have another potentially-bright idea, of a much grander scale.

My choice: sign a contract—which will preclude any possibility of my other idea ever seeing light—and see a fair bit of compensation for what I’ve done (beyond my hourly wage, which has of course already been paid)… or give that (and my job) up for the chance to strike out on my own and pursue this other idea.*

[*Of course, there’s also the find-another-job option.]

Staying on will give me no additional skills that would be of interest to any future employer, and—though it’ll give me employment in the short-term—will not guarantee me a position in the long-term.

My other idea is exciting and interesting to me, but it’s comparatively huge—and therefore has a significant chance of failure. I can’t even begin to narrow down how significant that chance is. I also can’t judge when it would actually bring money in (if ever). If I were to fail, the skills I’d gain may or may not be of value to others—mostly depending on how successful I was in my failure.

…

I’m looking at taking a huge risk, and it’s pretty much scaring me spitless. Either decision could end up being a gigantic mistake (though, granted, I might not ever know it). My nature—being fundamentally risk-adverse and not liking change—isn’t really helping things.

But I keep summarizing my choices, in my head, as being between shackles and freedom. (Though perhaps those should be “money” and “stupidity”…)