For ages, many have complained about how the press mostly dwells on the "negative" things that occur on this planet. As someone with one foot in the fourth estate -- and for many years, two -- I don't agree with that generalization, but in the spirit of sharing something good, I'll depart from my usual rantings in this magazine about life as a small-business owner and lay open the good side of this insanity. Oops. There I go again. Sorry.

Here it is: For all my complaints, I don't want to do anything besides what I'm doing now, except maybe retiring to a remote location whose main commodities are wine, women, and song. I mean it. Starting my own business was the best move I ever made, not only financially but personally.

Pressured as I am, the stress of working for someone else was far more lethal. As an editor for one of the largest newspapers in the country, I would sometimes come home and throw things or chew out the dog just to blow off the pressure. I lived and breathed the newspaper at the expense of everything else -- for a fixed salary.

I reached my limit one night a few years ago when the phone rang around 2 a.m. The phone wasn't working in the bedroom, so my wife and I both ran down the stairs to answer the telephone in the kitchen. She tripped, and ended up flat on the floor. Jumping over her, I grabbed the phone just in time. It was my supervisor, who proceeded to lace into me about a story my staff had missed. My wife had broken her ankle, and I was being flogged. It was not a pretty picture.

Running your own business is frustrating as hell, but far more therapeutic. You learn a lot more about yourself than you would in a lifetime of therapy. You immediately see your weaknesses. You see that you don't do certain things because you're afraid of being uncomfortable. Or maybe you're simply unable to do them. Then when you hire someone capable of doing one of those tasks for you, you see what you don't know. It's an eye-opener.

You also discover how easy it is to do something you've never done before. Then, you start enjoying the rush of taking a huge risk and having it pay off. The feeling you get from building something from nothing is better than sipping cognac while eating dark chocolate. You learn quickly that the financial rewards are in direct proportion to the amount of passion and work you pour into the business, and you stop resenting the ridiculous hours.

Time off also becomes very, very special. When you do slow down to take a breather, you enjoy vacations more and spend more time just doing what you enjoy doing. Sure you're thinking about your business, but you won't find it hard going back to work. Being the boss, you can take off anytime you want. I love what I do, even though I constantly kvetch about it. After all, I am the boss.

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.