Making sacrifices..

[Gemsetterchris]

Well what a week, made a trip over to the UK & was offered an extremely promising position as stone setter for a highly respected company with secure income....

I declined after some serious consideration for the sake of my young 3 lads childhoods & the trauma of oversea re-location.

Bad choice..who knows , but I guess you have to follow your gut instincts.

10 years ago it would have been easy choice...

 

[don hicks]

Life is full of difficult decisions, spouses and children play a major part in these decisions, as they should. Never look back. Good luck.
Don

 

[rayf24]

Some time the gut is right but then ?? I have gone down this road myself as an aussie I move to the uk after bring my wife back home for a holiday then after 12 years and three children back to OZ for 12 years as if that wasn't bad enough we came back to Uk I must say I don't regret it at all even the cold wet winters, lot on offer here this will do till they throw the dirt on top :biggrin:
Ray

 

[phil]

Don't have any regrets Chris. Work prospects are limited in the UK due to many factors and whereas some years ago you could leave employment at one company and start work the following day at another, that is no longer the case. As I'm sure you are aware everyone expects the very highest quality for very little monetary return. Many jobs will net you little more than minimum wage, particularly when you are self employed and have the inclination to be a perfectionist and do a little more than what others class as acceptable. I am not just speaking from my own experience. Working in a tight knit environment like the jewellery quarter as I do, I know most of the craftsmen and women and they are all experiencing the same. You stay put and I hope everything works out just as you want.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

Thanks for your comments.
I feel enlightened that the decision time is over as it was quite stressful.
Being chosen over many candidates for a top end position is a satisfying achievement in itself, but a decent salary doesn't replace family hapiness.
I just hope the economy picks up abit here...

 

[Keirkof]

Have no regrets Chris, I share the views of earlier posts and yours. Times are rough everywhere in the consumer countries. Many of the most reputed setters over here are worried for lack of orders. We can only hope for things to improve. Maybe someday, we can actually set realistic prices instead of charging the same as 25 years ago. But the ability to choose one's own lifestyle in a place of one's choosing is a priceless thing in itself.

 

[Gemsetterchris]

Strangely enough I just been contacted by a small outlet regarding doing some work for them...mysterious how things pan out.

 

[Tira]

Don't be sad about picking your family over the opportunity. I left a promising career when I had my children and have spent the last 20 years raising them. It was that career change that led to my engraving and looking back I wouldn't have changed that decision. Yes, our financial situation may have been different, but now that my kids are on the cusp of adulthood (one in college and the other going in a year) the one thing I can't get more of is time with them and missing that time would have made me very sad.