What we do in life gives us value and shows the world who we are. Many of us focus that outward expression into their work. What then do you do if your job disappears? Where is your value?
Work is an exchange of values. There is the value placed on the service you provide, and you receive compensation for your time or knowledge. Your energy goes outward in the form of ideas, decisions, and actions, and produce results. The primary return may be in the paycheck, but it can also include a feeling of accomplishment, the interactivity with others, a glowing review, or a success to add to your resume.
For most of us our work takes a great deal of our time and energy. Our training drives us to learn and develop our career, leaving our personal and social development in a secondary role. While it is true that earning or producing what we need for our day to day needs is important, placing too much emphasis on this role can be devastating when something goes haywire in that area.
When we place the bulk of our value in one area it can be devastating when that avenue for self definition dries up. Finding we are the target of a layoff or firing can quickly strip us of the outer shell that we use to define who we are.
In essence we lose many things in a layoff. The most obvious is our paycheck. Survival is our most primal level, one that cannot be ignored. The paycheck is not the only loss: we lose our day to day companions called our co-workers; our schedule and routine is disrupted; and most importantly, we lose one of the measurement tools for our value and worth.
It cannot be denied that the most effective solution is to gain new employment or return to our old job. In the meantime we can turn around this unfortunate situation by looking inward and using this incident as a tool for self improvement.
Look around you, right now. What forms of self expression do you have available to you? Let's go through a basic list: friends, family, hobbies, pets, journaling, charity work, worship, gardening, even cleaning your house can be an expression of self. Have you given as much attention to these other areas? Those other acts can give you support as you rebuild your working world.
Change can give us an opportunity to release and realign ourselves, letting go of those things that have built up over many years. We don't always recognize how big a load we carry! In part two of this series we will explore some easy to use techniques for self awareness and release. - 16069
Work is an exchange of values. There is the value placed on the service you provide, and you receive compensation for your time or knowledge. Your energy goes outward in the form of ideas, decisions, and actions, and produce results. The primary return may be in the paycheck, but it can also include a feeling of accomplishment, the interactivity with others, a glowing review, or a success to add to your resume.
For most of us our work takes a great deal of our time and energy. Our training drives us to learn and develop our career, leaving our personal and social development in a secondary role. While it is true that earning or producing what we need for our day to day needs is important, placing too much emphasis on this role can be devastating when something goes haywire in that area.
When we place the bulk of our value in one area it can be devastating when that avenue for self definition dries up. Finding we are the target of a layoff or firing can quickly strip us of the outer shell that we use to define who we are.
In essence we lose many things in a layoff. The most obvious is our paycheck. Survival is our most primal level, one that cannot be ignored. The paycheck is not the only loss: we lose our day to day companions called our co-workers; our schedule and routine is disrupted; and most importantly, we lose one of the measurement tools for our value and worth.
It cannot be denied that the most effective solution is to gain new employment or return to our old job. In the meantime we can turn around this unfortunate situation by looking inward and using this incident as a tool for self improvement.
Look around you, right now. What forms of self expression do you have available to you? Let's go through a basic list: friends, family, hobbies, pets, journaling, charity work, worship, gardening, even cleaning your house can be an expression of self. Have you given as much attention to these other areas? Those other acts can give you support as you rebuild your working world.
Change can give us an opportunity to release and realign ourselves, letting go of those things that have built up over many years. We don't always recognize how big a load we carry! In part two of this series we will explore some easy to use techniques for self awareness and release. - 16069
About the Author:
Estee Taschereau offers intuitive phone sessions focused on successful living and personal empowerment. Practice simple yet powerful techniques in the tele-class Meditation for Conscious Living.
