The Pink Slip
I am collateral damage in this global economic crisis, 1 of 7,000 employees worldwide who have been given the pink slip by the company, a company I have worked for two-thirds of my professional life. I got started in my career there, made firm friendships, cried and laughed with the people I meet in the office, sat on project teams which launched various products - some with great success, some which flopped spectacularly and got written off as a "pilot" which never transcended into production mode, I had the best bosses in my career there, I wore the culture of that work-place like a second skin...
Would I miss the people? Without a doubt.
Would I miss the work? After 11 years, I seriously doubt it.
So perhaps this is the time. The time to sit back and have a good, long look at past achievements, the prospects of continuing with the same, and evaluating what sort of fulfilment it brings me. And if the answer stares back at me, with mournful eyes and tired arms, of great difficulty of getting out of bed in the morning, then I know. Perhaps the moment is now, to consider the original 40 year-old plan which had been shelved earlier, as I inch towards the symbolic 40 year-old mark, fearing that what I have squirrelled away, is not enough. I fear that is never, ever going to be enough anyway, if one looks critically, detachedly and with a logical mind, blocking out what the heart wants and just thinking with one's head.
For me, who has always had to struggle with both head and heart almost equally, that is no mean feat. Duality and being almost completely, equally balanced, can be a blessing and a curse. Decisions would be so much easier if one were more inclined either way, to go with one's head or one's heart, as with many people I know.
So perhaps with some logical, clear-thinking expert advice and support from the good folks at the career management services, I can think with my heart while I outsource the head thinking to the experts and come up with a new direction in life. As the Chinese characters for "crisis" denote, they are both danger and opportunity. And with that, one needs to find that opportunity within dangerous times and make the most out of life in the most satisfying manner possible.
There will always be hope.
Would I miss the people? Without a doubt.
Would I miss the work? After 11 years, I seriously doubt it.
So perhaps this is the time. The time to sit back and have a good, long look at past achievements, the prospects of continuing with the same, and evaluating what sort of fulfilment it brings me. And if the answer stares back at me, with mournful eyes and tired arms, of great difficulty of getting out of bed in the morning, then I know. Perhaps the moment is now, to consider the original 40 year-old plan which had been shelved earlier, as I inch towards the symbolic 40 year-old mark, fearing that what I have squirrelled away, is not enough. I fear that is never, ever going to be enough anyway, if one looks critically, detachedly and with a logical mind, blocking out what the heart wants and just thinking with one's head.
For me, who has always had to struggle with both head and heart almost equally, that is no mean feat. Duality and being almost completely, equally balanced, can be a blessing and a curse. Decisions would be so much easier if one were more inclined either way, to go with one's head or one's heart, as with many people I know.
So perhaps with some logical, clear-thinking expert advice and support from the good folks at the career management services, I can think with my heart while I outsource the head thinking to the experts and come up with a new direction in life. As the Chinese characters for "crisis" denote, they are both danger and opportunity. And with that, one needs to find that opportunity within dangerous times and make the most out of life in the most satisfying manner possible.
There will always be hope.
posted by Bo-Bo Gal at 8:00 pm
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