The Burnout

“Seize that wave.”

“It’s not about showing off. It’s about you and the sea. You and the ride. The ride is it.

‘Sorry, I only do divorces.’

I’m enjoying life, I think as I take my coffee. I’m enjoying the ride. And that’s all you can ask.

Instead of the joyfulness program, we now have new rules about emails out of office. We have boundaries. We have realistic expectations of staff.

I want to enjoy life again, I realize. Because life is the ride, and the ride is it. You have to enjoy it.

And I was wondering what the opposite of ‘casual sex’ is. So I looked it up.”

“You looked it up.” Finn’s face creases. “Of course you did. What did it say?”

“I found ‘platonic love’ and ‘dream crush’ and ‘love without sexual desire.’ ”

“So you refuse. You say no.”

“No doesn’t work. They just pile on more tasks.”

“So you threaten to move on. You leave jobs undone and explain why you didn’t have time to complete them. You create boundaries and stick to them.”

“The thing you must remember is to enjoy the ride.” He looks at me with a sharp blue gaze, and just for an instant I’m looking at the old Terry. “Enjoy every moment. Because if you don’t, what’s the point? The ride is it.”

Why did I wipe out?”

“Because you tried,” says Terry simply. “You tried, my dear. And that puts you above most people.”