Just because something is offered doesn't mean it's better than what you have. It just means that the person offering the job is in a bind or is short-staffed or has a position to fill within a certain amount of time. It's more about them trying to fix a problem they have than you being offered the opportunity of a lifetime (unless it clearly is...).

Say you were headed to a breeder to pick out a Golden Retriever puppy - something you'd wanted for years; it was the type of dog you grew up with. On the way to the kennel, someone asked you if you'd like a Standard Poodle instead. Would you run to the nearest computer or library to find out why Standard Poodles might just be a better choice than a Golden Retriever?

You should ask yourself why you would move when you:

Don't have to

Don't want to

What is it about an "offer" in and of itself that is so enticing?

I took "once in a lifetime" job that I had serious reservations about when I was 39. If I told you the position and title, you'd definitely want to talk to me at a cocktail party. But guess what. It didn't involve a move, but it involved doing something that I knew in my heart wasn't right, even though I had been professionally ambitious.

To make a long story short, the job was horrible, as I sensed it might be. It was the beginning of a life change, where I finally realized the only good decisions are made from within. Good decisions are not about money and status (altho they can be, but only IF your heart is in them).

Fast forward to today: I followed my heart on all fronts. I moved to my home city - something I couldn't do for a job and personal reasons for many years. And guess what, it took several years, but I now, once again, have among the best jobs in my field.

I had no idea I would fall upon such a job, or that my employer would be in driving distance from my home.

The bad, wildly impressive-sounding job at 39 that I didn't really want turned my life around - because I started following my heart then and there. You might argue I needed the bad move. I'm not so sure. Like you, I had a pretty impressive resume up until 39.

I can't believe anyone ever goes wrong from following their heart.

The New Yorker is irrelevant except in pseudo-intellectual, East Coast circles. Honestly, very few people truly care about that moronic cover and very few people could care less whether the New Yorker, for God's sake, didn't get a seat on the plane. "Manipulating" the press? The New Yorker is not "the press." It's a vanity rag for elite, liberal bombasts. And I say that as a liberal. Did the Washington Post, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, NY Times, Time mag, Newsweek get seats? If so, then what is the problem?

Was anyone from Oprah magazine there? If not, I protest. That's as much "the press" as the New Yorker. Nothing against that mag; I sometimes read it.

The 30s is a difficult decade for men and women. The 20s are fun and exciting and the 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond are for coming into our own.

This may sound hokey, but most people don't really know who they are in their 30s in the U.S. So many people do what they "should" do. This includes getting married, having kids, buying an SUV that you really never wanted or moving to some dead suburb. If you're single, you're 'dating' like mad - either online or out 'partying' like your friend - because you're trying to meet "the one."

The 30s are the best decade for moving ahead in your career and the absolute worst on a personal level. Of course this is just my opinion - but they're letting me write in this box....

You are losing your friendship, but not the friend, as one reader pointed out. You will know her on a superficial level. It is a terrible loss, but it is as normal as the leaves changing in fall (if you live on the East or in the midwest).

Both of you will grow and change over the next several years. Maybe she'll get tired of her lifestyle and change again in her 40s. You too will change.

It's bittersweet to say goodbye, but life is all about change. Nothing stays the same. Look at the watch on your wrist for 60 seconds. The hand will move. It's all in flux. What you are experiencing is just part of the deal. These losses will happen again, but you will grow for having experienced them. And you will like who you become.