When the meeting stops reaching you

The fly head-butting the window draws more curiosity than the conversation.

You’re sitting in a meeting you would once have found interesting.
.
The people around you are capable.

The topic’s important.

The numbers matter.

Someone’s talking through the next phase, the next challenge, the next decision that needs making.

And you are contributing.

You’ll ask the right question.

Make the useful observation.

You’ll help the room move forward.

From the outside, nobody would know.

But inside, there is a flatness you do not really want to admit.

You’re there, in body at least.

But you’re not fully there.

The strange part is that nothing is obviously wrong.

You haven’t failed.

Nor lost your edge.

You’re not falling apart.

Definitely can still do the work.

That may be the problem.

Because when you’re still capable, it’s easy to ignore the fact that you are no longer alive in it.

You might tell yourself this is just a phase.

You assume you need a break.

I bet you wonder whether a different role, a board position, or a cleaner diary would solve it.

But the question underneath may be deeper than workload.

It may be this:

Have I spent years moving forward without consciously choosing where I am going?

That moment in the meeting isn’t trivial.

It’s information.

Boredom. Distance. The relief when something is cancelled.

The envy when someone else seems to be building something with real energy.

The sense that the life still works, but no longer fully feels like yours.

I’d say these are not always signs that you need to escape.

But sometimes they are signs that you need to listen.

That’s where The Home Straight Rebellion starts.

It’s not about the crisis.

But it does need a recognition.

You come to an honest admission that momentum is no longer the same as direction.

Photo by James Liu on Unsplash