My colleague on Business Week's Frontier Online, Azriela Jaffe, wrote this month about how entrepreneurs get disillusioned with their businesses after the five-year mark. She used the example of a woman who ran a company from home, lost passion for it, and went job-hunting -- only to be more disillusioned when she saw what was available. She then returned to running her business with renewed vigor.

The timing of that piece -- for me, anyway -- was uncanny. My business will be five years old this summer. And though it's grown substantially since I launched it, I've started to get mired in the muck of everyday routines. I, too, wonder if maybe the grass isn't greener somewhere else. But sometimes -- to paraphrase Azriela's piece -- the only reason the lawn is greener next door is because the occupants use more manure.

SOUL-SEARCHING. Several months ago, I was offered a job with a very tempting salary package. It took me only about three minutes to know I was not going to accept it. But being careful about these things, I told the person I would take a weekend to think about it and get back to him. I eventually said, "No," though I did honestly think about accepting. During my soul-searching, I remembered how incompatible I was with certain corporate cultures and decided against it. Besides, why would I want to prematurely kill the business I built?

It was a good decision. But I'm still frustrated by the muck I wade through every day. As a corporate employee, I fantasized about running my business where I could set my own hours, answer to no one but myself, and maybe make a good living along the way. And that's exactly what it was, a fantasy.

You can dream all you want about the glory of your own business, but there should be a warning sign reading: "Hard Work Ahead. Be Prepared to Stop." That's right. Stop.

Entrepreneurs are like artists laboring over a canvas. If they are sticklers for detail, they'll squint and labor over the smallest stroke. If the big picture is more their style, they'll nail a canvas to the floor and leave their mark much like Jackson Pollock did in his studio. Whatever your style, you'll get a clearer picture if you take a few steps back. This is why the woman in Azriela's story fell in love again with her business. She was too close to it. But when she abandoned her venture, she realized how happy she was doing what she was doing.

As owners of our own businesses, we do control own our destinies. What happens next is truly in our own hands. Along the way, we're tempted by what seems to be an easier way out or -- God forbid -- a steady paycheck.

I often meet individuals who once ran their own businesses, but now work full time for someone else. Until recently, I never could understand why someone who was doing their own thing would want to go back to running someone else's thing. I now understand. And I can see how easy the decision could be if one's frustration level were high enough. Maybe the entrepreneurial life was not for them.

O.K., now that I've persuaded myself to take a few steps back, I'll have a look at those travel brochures under my desk. Hey, I deserve it!

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.