Page 305 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

put this into better words than I had been able when considering my options
about leaving the police.

“Fulfilment in life and our work is a right and not a privilege for the chosen
few. Every single one of us is entitled to feel fulfilled by the work we do, to
wake up feeling inspired and impassioned to go to work, returning home with
a sense that we are contributing to something larger than ourselves.
Fulfilment is not a lottery reserved for a lucky few who get to say, “I love what
I do” and mean it wholeheartedly”.

Every one of us has a WHY, a definite major purpose in life, a cause or belief
that is the source of our passion and inspiration. You may not yet know what
yours is or how to express it in words. But I guarantee, you have one.

I have always believed instinctively that all of us deserve to wake up inspired
to go to work and come home, at the end of the day, feeling fulfilled by the
work we do.

Fulfilment isn’t another word for happiness. All kinds of things make us happy
at work, hitting a goal, getting a promotion, completing a project—the list
goes on. But happiness is temporary, the feeling doesn’t last. Nobody walks
around energized by the memory of a goal hit twelve months ago. That
intensity passes with time. Fulfilment is deeper. Fulfilment lasts.

I knew that my WHY centred around making an individual and innovative
difference in the world of business, my own business where I would rise or fall
by my own endeavours and talent (or lack of it). I knew the essence of my
WHY, what I hadn’t yet identified was WHAT I really wanted to do and HOW I
would do it.

Like the eagle leaping from the nest into the unknown for the first time with no
real sense of direction, this was how I felt. All I had was the utmost faith that
my direction or path would unfold for me in the fullness of time. I viewed it like
taking a particular fork in a road on life’s journey. The first fork may not be the
right or ultimate one, but other forks would appear that would resonate with
me, and this is very much how my story unfolded.

On the page that follows, I have simplified my career path since leaving the
police service.

For any serving police officers reading these pages who may be considering
fleeing the nest of the service, you should not underestimate the doubt and
uncertainty you will experience. Breaking out from the cocooned existence
of the service is not easy and the decision should not be taken lightly.

However, if you are passionate about an alternative career path and Page304
confident of the opportunity, you will find the courage to leap.