“We can make a big difference here and make a heap of money.”

She wasn’t mincing words. The offer was on the table. If I took it, I’d leave the room and shake hands with the CEO.

Three days before and six months before, I’d been told I was seen as a liability. Capable, creative and charismatic. But also unprofessional, unruly, and unreliable. Wasted in my responsibilities.

Now the same people I’d so underwhelmed were asking for more of the same. Were offering so much more for more of the same. And my former employer offering not so unbiased encouragement.

Maybe, I have learned something in these last five years. I replied with the truth, “I’m tempted, I’ll think about it. But I need at least three months away to rest and clear my head.”

A rest from lying. Clear my head of the avarice wrapped in platitudes.