~ Quitting the Pinnacle...~

So how many of us have the zeal and the guts to quit at the pinnacle of our careers – I am sure not many, I might not be wrong if I say that none amongst us can take this humungous decision to call it quits for the entire fraternity of fans and family to keep guessing what made him / her take this important decision of life.

Just the other day, I was having a conversation with a friend who seem to be quite clear on the time when he wants to call it a day – many of us have no idea or are confused as to when to quit, though at 60 we would be politely asked to retire 😊. “The grace is to quit at your own will and that too when you are at the peak of your career – let the gentry be perplexed with volley of questions for your decision.

My friend has become financially stable – as per his metaphor of ‘Success’ –  A man should know what is the best time to quit, just like the recent news of tennis sensation Ash Barty quitting Tennis at the age of 25 stupefied the world – how can she do it, she still has 10-15 sporting years in front of her, commented many.

At the peak of her tennis prowess, the world no.1 and a sparkling new talent just called it a day. She is also the reigning Wimbledon Champion, known as the Mecca of Tennis for the sport aspirant, also she holds the title of Australian Open – both remarkable titles which one can be jealous of – all this at the age of 25! , with zillion tennis fans, she is the current heartthrob of many youngsters –

She has phenomenally made a statement on the tennis circuit at such a young age but now has confused many lovable fans of her early retirement, but only from Tennis and not otherwise – she certainly has other plans – as most of us don’t have post our retirement, many would tend to sit idle awaiting that final moment called ‘Death’.

There is certainly an underlying message in such a stance – first that she is content with her accomplishments and that she does not want to go beyond what she has achieved and secondly, she is a true loyalist to the game which has given her so much. When asked Ash, ‘What was the main reason for you quitting at the height of your career” - her answer was quite in a simple tone – “I think, I have achieved what I had dreamt for and further to this, I will not be able to justify the game anymore! “, the honest acceptance as an explanation of such an act is hardly a practice nowadays.

Many of us would like to redeem the benefits of position we have achieved till perpetuity and even more, most of us have no plans to start from the scratch and our job profiles are our true identity if not more.

Sans our job roles, ask yourself what you can accomplish single handedly and the answer would be not surprising, as you know it to your inner self.

As the Barty Party gets over, there are obvious questions which would be asked by many of sport inquisitive fans – the quest is obvious as this has never been the case, as it is obvious, when a sportsman reaches its ripe age and enters into non-performance mode due to his age and body fragility, he/she plans to quit but accolades follow as per the expected lines – some would say, it had to happen while others would voice their concern as “It is a late decision, he/she would have quit earlier with grace!”

Ash Barty has open a Pandora's box by quitting at the pinnacle of her success – in corporate world, many wont even think of taking this step as the uncertainties of financial instability would haunt us –. Comparing it with corporate world, I haven’t seen a single sports maverick doing this and probably wont be seeing it quite often… after all reaching at the pinnacle of life was our only aim – not knowing that this would be taken away anytime soon, be it your willing or no, till then Enjoy your dream…