I had a conversation with a client recently about some mixed emotions that she was having. She is totally unhappy with her job and we are working on developing a successful exit strategy, but she found herself feeling slightly guilty about her unhappiness. With all of the talk in the news about the poor economy and soaring unemployment rates, she felt that she should be grateful that she even had a job.
Gratefulness is what her pastor was preaching and gratefulness is what her mother stressed sternly to her when she called her in tears about the stress that her job was producing. Her two girlfriends that had recently lost their jobs told her to just be grateful that she can pay her bills. And so here she sat in this conundrum between misery and gratefulness. Here she sat with me looking for permission to be unhappy; feeling guilty because having the resources to pay the bills wasn’t enough to completely satisfy her with her life’s work. On a daily basis she felt unappreciated, underutilized, bored, frustrated and confused. Today she also felt guilty and unappreciative.
My heart goes out to this client and to the many other workers who feel this way. People who are tricked into stagnation by propaganda, language and systems that exercise control by making people believe that they have no options. I wonder how many slaves stayed put after being declared free thinking, “At least massa gives me a place to sleep.”
People like to throw around the expression that money is the root of all evil, but I believe that fear is the route of all evil. Fear freezes people. Fear tells us that we have to stay in a bad relationship or a cancerous environment because we don’t know what else is out there. Fear allows us to be misused and abused.
We were not created as one dimensional people. We are complex and ever evolving. It is possible to both appreciate the vessel in which we receive our income while also having faith that our source is larger and more powerful than our current situation. It is ok to want more, different and/or better, but remember faith without works is dead. Start working on your exit strategy today. Call me if you need help.
