Promoting a lack of promotions

When you hear promotion it's often something that people worked really hard for to get to.  For baseball players, it's that moment they finally get the call from the minor league's to the majors.

Andrew McCutchen received his call up to the majors 13 years ago on June 4th, 2009. 

He got an insert card in 2022 Topps Series 1 highlighting his call up.  There's of course parallels to chase and I'm sure I will seek them out as time goes on.

Eventually, no matter how elite someone is though father time eventually catches up with you and you can no longer perform at that same level that earned you the promotion.  

All great athletes eventually have to retire.  

I think that's why some greats have a hard time walking away from the game and find something else related to it as either a coach, broadcaster, scout, etc. 

This got me thinking about real life not because of this insert card or the sudden surge of the Pirates Young Bucs callups, but because I went and saw Top Gun: Maverick.

I won't spoil too much of the movie, but I see my life much in the same way as Maverick.  Lots of experience and the ability to get promoted, but refusing to just because it's not something that fits the mold of the character.  

I heard that someone I helped train about 15 years ago recently got promoted to a job that has been offered to me (and I repeatedly turned down over the past 5 years).  I'm happy to hear that for him as it's something he has wanted.  For me though, despite a higher salary, it is something I wouldn't want to do because it doesn't fit my personality.

Have you ever turned down a higher salary or promotion because it's not something you'd want to do?