Working hard comes naturally to me. The medical billing company I work for hired me as a claims researcher and in one year promoted me to head of the Northeast Region Follow-Up Team.  "When are you going to finish?" My husband Joe said as he climbed into bed. "In a few minutes," I replied. My track record offered Joe little reason to believe me. Finishing was always just a moment or two away. Then after I knew he was sound asleep, I'd gather my paperwork and move to the kitchen table and work for a few more hours. Somewhere along the way , I found my enthusiasm for living was replaced with hard boring work that robbed me of both peace and pleasure. As the company expanded, my responsibility grew heavier every day.  Resigning would end the madness and Joe encouraged me to do so daily "Just do it, Annie. Quit . You're heading for a break down."  One day an email appeared on my computer screen. When I opened it the words "Administrative assistant for senior vice president" caught my eye .No , I thought . They'd think I was crazy . Who in their right mind would stop back to a secretarial position from a management position? At home that evening my interest in the job persisted. I had ten years of experience as an executive secretary long before I ever arrived at the company. The next morning I told my boss I intended to apply for the job. "You're in for a huge salary cut, and you'll lose your bonus," he said, "You're a leader, Annmarie, not a follower. How is it that you think this makes any kind of sense? You're crazy." "Not yet," I said "But if I stay in this position much longer , I'm pretty sure I'll end up that way." Admittedly the manager of human resources was shocked too, but from a budgetary standpoint it's hard to say no to someone who's asking for a salary cut and a decrease in benefits. That's pretty much a novelty  you don't run into every day. I brought to the table a skill set, which included a working knowledge of every department in the operations areas of the company . Though I negotiated to a salary I felt was reasonable for what I was offering , the lost bonus and salary cut brought me to a twenty percent decrease in my income.  I closed the door to my office that last day with very few regrets about leaving my management position. By the end of my first day in the new position I knew I had made the right decision. No office, staff, salary , or bonus check can ever replace this new feeling of waking up every morning and actually wanting to go to work. The tasks I perform aid one vice president in particular. When I leave at the end of the day, I take nothing with me but my desire to come back tomorrow knowing that I am respected and appreciated.  My husband always tells me I can't put a price on peace of mind, but divorce attorneys  are plenty expensive. It looks like my path to peace turned up none too soon! To the manager of human resources , the author's changing her job was really   _  .
often seen bad news to his taste against his will