Listen, its Blessings

With the recent happenings, i consider it a blessing among friends who are able to lend one another a listening ear, to offer one another some form of support that the other parties might need during these times. Although there might be little that friends can actually do for each other but just the fact of being able to be there in the present moment alone can touch the other party both emotionally and mentally, providing them the strength to pick themselves up quicker than having little or no support at all.

It is no doubt having to face the situation where the current job is no longer secured and the prospect of not being able to find some other work (be it within or without the current firm), there will be a sense of insecurity and loss of direction for some while there will be others who are able to compose themselves quickly and move along. To some degree, those who were able to take the news with some light heartedness are probably the ones who recognised right from start that this job is going to end someday no matter what. It is with only by arming ourselves with the understanding of impermanence that we will realise that this job or any jobs (past or future or even anything for the matter) will end at some point in time.

After all, change is the only constant and that is the truth that no one can refute. Why are people then so upset about losing their jobs? Countless reasons but the bottomline, these reasons are based on attachments and ignorance.

A recent dhamma talk by Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh pretty much summed up how we can face the prospects of losing our jobs in a much more positive way. He said, "Many of us are afraid that we cannot continue with the living style that we have because of the economic crisis. And that fear is an obstacle. It does not allow us to be happy. If we can remove that fear, then happiness will be possible, rightaway, even if we have to live a little bit more simply."

To that i must say, my friends Evelyn and Xuezhen lived very much by that guideline, pretty unfazed at losing their jobs or changing to a whole new industry or type of job that they truly believed they will be happier in. So i truly wish that my current colleagues and friends will be able to free themselves of such job related fears and worries and their hearts will smile much brighter =)