This might be the time for you to consider finding answers to your work life issues from a deeper perspective.
Today I was thinking about the way that things are in the world right now, and I decided to Google how many wars, how many conflicts are currently going on in the world. And the answer to that question was that there are about 45 armed conflicts going on in the world. Obviously we know about Palestine, and we know about Ukraine, and we know about Myanmar. There’s some significant battles going on in Myanmar. There are battles in Africa, a couple of countries, in Sudan and some other places.
And I started thinking about that because we are going through so many things here in the United States and obviously in other places in the world. But I wanted to be able to put it in context, right? So one of the big issues of my life — and I always say this, if you go to my website you’ll see it — I talk about the challenges that I faced figuring out what I was here to do in the world.
But so I Googled, because a lot of people are going through it with work right now. A lot of people are unemployed, they’re facing challenges, there’s the government, let’s just say, standoff, and people are really, really challenged. So I wanted to share with you some thoughts about what you can do in this situation. I’ve had the experience, and I want to share with you my thoughts.
Don’t be mad at your circumstances
One of the sayings that I like to use often is, don’t be mad at your circumstances, because it’ll only make it worse. I saw that in an Indian restaurant many years ago, and it made me think.
And I say that in this context because many of us have been seriously affected by a number of things that are going on in the world. And if work is one of the challenges that you’re facing, it’s very easy to get very angry and, in some cases, depressed, and just down about the entire situation. And it’s not easy. When I was facing all those challenges it wasn’t an easy thing to just say, oh, it’s going to be okay — that kind of fairy dust kind of talking. That’s not exactly how it works.
Find something to do
But I can tell you a couple of things. One thing is, if you find yourself out of work — and I’ve had this experience — find something to do to bring in money. You have to have something to do. If you’re independently wealthy, well, you know what to do. But if you’re not, you have to find something to do immediately so that you can eat, so that your family can eat. Even if you’re not living the way that you’re accustomed, at the standard of living that you’re accustomed to living at, at least you will have something to eat, and there’s no shame in that.
And that’s sort of like what you see when actors, actresses, they work as waiters or waitresses for years before they find their right place. And I found that in my life: you just have to find something to do until everything becomes clear.
Why am I here? What am I here to do?
For those of you who come to my channel before, you know about my book Answers from Within. And this book was all about my struggle to find out why I was here on the planet. Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What am I here to do? That was the whole question, because you can live your whole life and work at a particular job and just be unhappy.
And for me it just didn’t make any sense that that was the way things were done. That we were created to suffer through life with a job that might pay our bills but would not bring us happiness. And that took me on a very, very long journey. It took me about 20 years to figure out what this whole game was about.
If you bring anger into the circumstance
Now I want to go back for a minute, because in the opening I mentioned the saying about don’t be mad at your circumstances. And the reason that that works, that’s very profound, because if you are in a difficult situation, your circumstances are not ideal and you get angry. What the saying is really telling us is that if you bring angry energy into your circumstance, in addition to whatever else is happening, if you bring anger into the circumstance, you’re just bringing in negative energy, which will make your circumstance worse.
So that’s a very, very important — it might not necessarily be easy for you to understand and to put into practice, but it’s a very, very important thing. No matter what’s happening, for each one of us, we have to figure out what we can do to make sure that our energy stays on the positive side of things. If you are in the negative, you will attract negativity. That’s just how it works. Like attracts like. So let’s put that on the bottom.
What my gifts and talents were
Now the other thing that I said already is that you got to find something to do. Fix your energy, work on your energy, try to be in as much positivity as you can. It doesn’t just happen, you have to work on it. Find something to do.
Now for me, and this is part of what is in Answers from Within, which of course is available on Amazon — the number one thing is that I needed to find out what my gifts and talents were, and once I figured out what those were, then I could set a direction.
I know several people who’ve been laid off from the federal government, and some of them have decided, well, I’m going to go and start a business that I always wanted to start. I’m going to start doing something else. I’m going to pursue my passion. And I want to encourage you, after you’ve secured yourself. You know how you’re eating. You know how you’re living, and your basic needs are taken care of.
There’s going to be no perfection with this situation. It’s difficult. If you are out of work for whatever reason, you have to figure out how you’re going to take care of your basic needs. I don’t want you to think that I’m suggesting that you can just go off and figure out what your life is about without taking care of your basic needs and the basic needs of your family. That is not what this is about.
You have to be willing to make sacrifices. So I know, for example, that when someone really has found their passion, they’re willing to work one job to survive and to continue to pursue their passion on this side. And in Answers from Within, what I do is go from a deeper perspective with regards to what you’re here to do, what you’re gifted to do. And I think that ultimately that is where our answers lie.
Each and every one of us matters
It’s important to have a good job. It’s important to make money. All of those things matter. But if you find yourself in a transitional phase for whatever reason, this might be the time for you to consider finding answers to your work life issues from a deeper perspective, from a spiritual perspective. Working on your energy, working on making a living so that you are able to eat, so that you are able to pay the rent and do the basic things, and then taking whatever challenge has presented itself with work as an opportunity to explore what your talents are, what your gifts are, and figure out what you’re here to do with the world.
If you’ve been following me, you saw the videos that I did from Jane Goodall, and she said — and I love it — each and every one of us matters. Each and every one of us is here to do something, and it’s a gift when you’re able to figure out what that is. If you’re having a challenge with work, this might be your opportunity to figure out what to do, and I provide insight and guidance in my book Answers from Within, from a spiritual perspective.
I am Olivia S. Benson. You can find me at Author Olivia S. Benson on Facebook. I’m on Instagram, I’m on YouTube, and this book, which is a summary of my journey to figure out what my life was about when it came to work, is available, so check it out.