Last week I asked this question: Which is more difficult to manage: a career or a relationship? In my case, managing a career is harder – by a mile, in fact.

Let me begin by talking about my work history. During the early part of my career, I worked for a couple of large multinational corporations. My stints with both companies were not long. I have always had difficulty being an employee and reporting to bosses primarily because I do not like to play company politics, kiss asses, window dress and follow orders from superiors who I think are incompetent. After a few years in the corporate set-up, I decided that enough was enough. So I started my own company.

Although running my own company has its advantages, it is not as easy as being employed. What I earn is directly proportional to how hard I work. If I slack, my take home pay will drop. In contrast, if an employee eases up with work, he/she will still end up getting the usual pay at the end of the month. Also, employees get fringe benefits and bonuses. I don’t. These perks fall under my operating expenses.

Right now, I am not completely exempted from playing company politics, kissing asses and window dressing. I still have to tolerate clients like “Mr. Toxic” and staff like “Ms. Absent-Minded.” I am a very straightforward person. I always speak my mind. Although repressing anger and emotions in my current set-up is not as brutal as being employed, biting my tongue and holding back still takes a lot out of me. I guess the only benefit of running my own company is not dealing with bosses.

To me, it always seemed that when it comes to work and career, there is nothing worth hanging on to. If things don’t work well for me, I can just check out, call it quits and try out other endeavors.

Although my relationship with my partner has caused its fair share of snags, I never even considered checking out and calling it quits. I think a lot had to do with the fact that I had less work experience compared to the number of relationships I was involved in. Don’t get me wrong, I have had only two serious relationships. Most of the relationships I refer to here are my dealings with people I have encountered in my life (like relatives, family, friends, etc.). Hence, with all that practice, I understood what energies are needed to make a relationship last. And when I started going out with my current partner, I knew he was the person whom I could make it work and with whom I wanted to make it work.

This does not mean that keeping a relationship is a drive on easy street. Although there are always unexplored paths and uncharted territories, maintaining a union has always come naturally to me. Right now, years into our relationship, my feeling of security and comfort has grown and is still growing. I feel that our relationship is like a rock that stabilizes me when I’m being jarred by everything else around me. To me, that is something worth hanging on to.

I was at the beach recently. As I basked in the sun in my swimsuit, a peculiar analogy dawned on me. The comparison had something to do with my swimsuit and the size of my hands. Let’s take a look at this photo:

If I post photos in the net like the one above, I am almost sure that I can go about my life normally knowing that general public will openly accept me. However, the photos I post in this site are similar to this one below:

Posting pics like the one above requires me to hide most of my face and my true identity. Obviously, the nature of the above photo is frowned upon by most members of society. I actually find this very puzzling. To illustrate this point, take a look at the pic below:

As you can see, the surface area of my bikini top and bottom is basically the same as my hands. Hence, my hands practically cover the same amount of skin as my swimwear.

However, the photo of me in a bikini does not elicit the same response as the photo of me with my hands covering my body parts. Why? Is it because of the idea that I am completely naked in the other pic? Is it because bikinis are more common? I want to hear your thoughts.

Readers, enlighten me…