CHAPTER I
Igwa pirming choice, Ger. Minsan, natakot lang kita i-try ang ibang choices ta komportable na kita. Habo kong mag abot ang time na 50 (years old) na palan ako asa _ _ _ pa, Statistician, ga halat na sana magretire because dai ako naglakas loob na i-pursue kung ano ang gusto ko sa buhay. Mahari ako sa _ _ _ _!
("We always have a choice, Ger. Sometimes, we are just afraid to explore other options because we are already comfortable from where we are. I do not want to come to a point when I would later realize that I am already 50 and I am still holed in my job at _ _ _ as Statistician, haplessly waiting for my retirement because I got no courage to pursue the things that I want in my life. The hell, I'll kick my ass out of the _ _ _ _!")
This was Lyn's text to me when we were at the height of exploring possible options to widen our career horizons. It was the usual case of "we-cannot-discover-new-oceans-unless-we-have-the-courage-to-lose-sight-of-the-shores" philosophy.
Lyn is now onward to discovering a new ocean. Or almost halfway to that goal. I, myself, is still ruminating what could there be at the other side of the Maqueda Channel.
Indeed, the fear of uprooting ourselves from the misleading sense of comfort given by our dead-end jobs deter us to break new grounds. Or simply said, to resign from our works and scout for better choices in the job market.
CHAPTER II
Two nights ago, I was channel switching from GMA 7 to ANC. The former was airing its ominous documentary about the catastropic Climate Change while the latter presents "Executive Class," a show that harps comfort, class and all that jazz.
The two shows provided me a divergent overview of life and, ah, well, living.
I texted Alan what and where is then the sense and meaning of exerting too much effort to achieve comfort and some class in our lives when afterall we are anway headed to perdition. The good life and all other earthly riches we have conscientiously acquired will just be buried by, well, the avenging earth.
CHAPTER III
Connections. Connections.
Benjamin Welch forwards that there are four common reasons why people stay in their dead-end jobs. These are the following:
- Ignorance
One of the most common reasons that people stick with dead-end jobs is precisely that they don’t recognize them as such. Maybe they think a promotion or a raise is just around the corner. Maybe they’re convinced that if they endure just a little longer, it will all be worth it. Frankly, this attitude is the same kind of wishful ignorance that accompanies most of the slot machines in Las Vegas, only in this instance they’re gambling more than just money — they’re wasting their professional lives, one quarter at a time. Another variety of ignorance is the belief that there aren’t any better jobs out there. This kind of ignorance is based on the assumption that dead-end jobs are the rule and not the exception. (Sure, you’re in a dead-end job but so is everybody else, right?) People who think like this tend to be anxious and pessimistic — two characteristics which, not coincidentally, also happen to be symptoms of being stuck in a dead-end job.
- Contentedness
As strange as it sounds, some people stay in dead-end jobs because they’re actually content — not with their work but rather with their compensation. These people value comfort and routine, and they love the consistency of a regular paycheck. As such, the prospect of venturing into the unknown or taking a temporary pay cut in order to pursue a new opportunity is unacceptable. Or, at least, it’s less acceptable than staying in a dead-end job.
- Apathy
On the surface, the symptoms of apathy may seem similar to those of contentedness. The difference lies in the motivation: whereas contented workers remain in dead-end jobs because they value routine or because they feel adequately compensated, apathetic workers stay with jobs because they simply don’t care. Apathy is an absence of all feeling — for good or for ill — and as such, apathetic workers don’t have strong feelings of any kind toward their job or toward work generally. They simply exist in a gray twilight that stretches from nine to five.
- Fear
Though ignorance, contentedness, and apathy share some of the blame, it is certain that the single most common reason for people staying in dead-end jobs is fear. One reason for its prominence is the shear of number of fears available — fear of the unknown, fear of risk, and fear of failure, to name but a few. People fear being under-qualified or under-educated for better jobs; they fear being unable to meet financial obligations; most of all, they fear ending up worse off than they were before. Is it any wonder that Henry David Thoreau declared that “most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them”?
Welch then forwards: "So how do you escape this “life of quiet desperation” embodied in the notion of a dead-end job? How do you overcome ignorance, apathy, and fear? How do you learn to take risks when you’re predisposed to comfort and security? Alas, the answers to these questions, which are fundamental to the reasons why people stick with dead-end jobs, elude simple explanations. They are as complex and as varied as each individual. And yet, this is precisely the purpose of this forum — to pursue these questions and to identify strategies that will allow each individual to make educated decisions".
"The key, of course, is knowledge. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to make choices about a potential career change or about furthering your education. The good news is that there’s hope. Figuring out that you’re in dead-end job is just the first step. Once you realize that you’re in a dead-end job and, more importantly, why you’re staying, then you can take steps to combat ignorance, fear, and even apathy and get out of that dead-end job once and for all, " Welsh added.
Welch emphasized that at this point, your tendency might be to resist. Maybe you think your job really isn’t dead-end (ignorance) or that you really do like your job (contentedness). Maybe you’re not motivated (apathy) or maybe you’re feeling anxious (fear).
CHAPTER IV
Ah, maybe I am just using "Climate Change" to shelve my plan to quit my dead-end job. Perhaps, I am just making this as an excuse to move on and justify my complacency.
I need to pursue the things that are being harped by Executive Class without losing my humanity. Whatever clime or season, come hell or water (pun intended), whether the end of the world is now or tomorrow, I have to aspire. To paraphrase Coelho: "Our only obligation in life is to realize our destiny."
Well, if it's written that "Climate Change" will be the doom of the earth, let it be. Let it happen if it is written in the Cosmic pages. It is Earth's destiny. And I have also mine to realize.
Tama ka Lyn, igwang pirming choice! Cheers to that!
Ah, the bliss of MOVING OUT.
Photo courtesy of http://images.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=http://mgeisler.net/images/moving-from-buchs.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mgeisler.net/2006/02/bye-bye-buchs/&h=337&w=400&sz=27&hl=tl&start=23&um=1&tbnid=l1Rf2k6BSmfNaM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMoving%2BOut%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dtl%26sa%3DN
Photos taken by GSR on May 5, 2008
