Jen DG's Blog

Have you ever tried so hard to do your job well but got no appreciation from your boss in the end?

And to make matters worse, you got blamed for a project that has not taken off due to things beyond your control.

That’s what happened to me.  I thought I had a career.  I’m climbing up the ladder, so to speak.  I have been dealing with hotshots in the corporate world.

Let us backtrack…my boss and I started well, at least in my thinking.  But from the moment that I have started attending office meetings, I knew I made a mistake of joining the company.  We clearly had different expectations.

He thought I can be ruthless,  that I can hustle for the company, in the guise of serving the investors and earning the much coveted returns on investment.

I thought he can be a father figure, someone who can guide me in my career.   Surely someone who belongs to a good community would have inherent kindness and support his staff.  I was wrong.

In a short time I can see that our expectations and values consistently clashed.  I wanted black and white in everything, for him there can be shades of grey.

But I needed the work.  And the perks and income was great so I tried to conform.  I started spending long hours dealing with all kinds of issues, and pushing myself to go with their way of thinking.

In my mind, there can be a balance.  I will work hard and they will be okay once they see good results.

I was handling two big projects, a fund raising and a stock market offering.  When the fund raising was completed, I thought that I made it.  I will now get a pat on the back for the successful completion.  But a good handshake from the boss never came my way.  He is at my neck for my next task.

The task was to prepare for a stock market offering.  But the economy has a way of spoiling things.  Timing is not good and the project started slowly.  Delays became inevitable.

The boss did not like it.  I did not work fast enough, nor hustled enough to get things going.  His goal will not be met.  So I got called for a dressing down.  The boss said this was not acceptable for a person being paid my kind of salary.  That was the last straw for me.  I immediately resigned.

You thought that was the end? No, the boss has other things in mind.  He called me a failure.  I countered that we have different definitions of success.  Mine was the better one.

From that time on, I harbored anger in my heart for him.  He caused me to doubt myself, got me off a good career plan.  But you know what? I think this was a blessing in disguise.

The moment I decided to leave, new opportunities came my way.  An advanced education and opportunities to do more of what I want.

A year ago, I saw him again.  We did not get a chance to talk, but I know I have started the forgiving part.  I no longer feel the anger.  Lately, I said that maybe he is that way because life was not that kind to him.  He had to go through hardships to get to where he was.  And where I am now, I knew that I was the more fortunate one.

Life indeed has a way of making things up to you.  Don’t stay angry, learn to forgive and things will become better.

I just visited a friend in the hospital and subsequently heard that doctors think she is in a critical condition.  That made me think why do good people need to suffer.

 

Isn’t it that good people need to stay longer on earth so they could help other people to become better? Ah…sometimes indeed life is not fair.

Maybe her suffering will turn her into a near-saint.  Maybe this will cause relationships to heal.

Or maybe like me, it causes people to rethink about themselves, and be more thankful of their own health and lives.  Or maybe it is just that God has other plans that we cannot really fathom.

Let’s take it one at a time.

Maybe this is something that she will really benefit from.

In terms of finally having a peaceful time…she can be alone in the hospital and resting. Or maybe the doctors will be able to cure her long-suffering symptoms that get her in near depression.

Maybe she can be of good cheer to other patients in the hospital.

Next is her situation can bring about having people rethink about how lucky we are to be healthy.

We probably need to take more care of our body, mind and soul.  Not to be abusive and try to be more helpful to others.

Try to be God’s hands to others who need some good cheering.

And then God might really have a grand plan for this.  We know that we are all here for a purpose.

Maybe suffering will lead us more to God.  Or make us dependent less on ourselves and more on Him.

A lot of times I don’t understand.  But I don’t really have to. That is what faith is all about.

Again this whole saga is making me more look inside myself.  Appreciating what I have now and being thankful even on the difficulties that I encounter.

At least I am still alive and there is hope.

Even the events that we see in the headlines nowadays will make you reflect on what is happening to some people.

How some can have different ideologies and not see the goodness of lots of people.  Which makes it sad because then they will not bother to think about the consequences of their actions.

Finally, I hope that my friend will not give up.  Nor do other people with the same condition or even worse condition.

I still believe goodness wins in the end.  We just have to believe and let God help everyone.

Do you ever stop and think of how happy and blessed you are? Pure luck is not the right word.  But it is how people can clearly understand their situation.

For me, it is more of being grateful for whatever we have right now.  I am talking about our health, job, relationships, and all kinds of blessings, whether material or not.

Just today I have seen and heard of some people who are locked in difficult situations.  Some due to their own fault, misconduct or wrong decisions.

Some not of their own making, but brought about by their heredity and genes, home situation and family relationships.

Most of these people somehow feel trapped in their current situations.  They seem lost and not being able to decide on how to get out of the rut.  They do not think they can still change whatever they are experiencing.

But I believe that people are resilient, and we just need to realize that we are made of better stuff.  We are all able to withstand all kinds of pressures, self-imposed or not.

We just have to see how we have a better situation than other people.

So how can we see and realize that we are indeed blessed and happy?

First, if you will count anything, count your blessings.  You are still alive right? Most of the basic things we need to be alive are free…the air, sun, and moon.

Next, if you have a job or a business, you have all the opportunities to earn the other basic necessities of life.

Then, the next higher blessing is in the form of relationships.  It does not matter if you are single or married.  You still are part of a family.

It may or may not be usual. It can be a social family, a religious community or other forms of familial affiliations.

Finally and the best part of all, we have a God who truly loves us regardless of what we have become.  And most important is if we follow His teachings, then we truly belong to His family.

There, you have to be convinced that not all is lost.  But rather, that we already have what it takes to be thankful and graceful by just being alive.  Life is Good…life is a blessing itself.

Let us not waste our time with thinking only of negative things.  Our life is not extended with worrying.  Let us focus more on the positives, smile often, and be happy.