The Newsy Neighbour Magazine
April Issue 114
Article Provided By: Gaylene Smith of McBride Career Group
Why do we as a society tend to define a
person’s worth by a few words on a business card? Why does it seem a person’s
value is directly tied to what they do for a living? Why do reality TV shows,
and I use that word very lightly, always show the person’s occupation alongside
their name? The Bachelor’s Ryan – Firefighter, Big Brother’s Jackie –
Professional Pizza Maker.
It starts when we are in grade school with
our kindergarten teachers asking us what we want to be when we grow up. By the
time we graduate high school, the pressure to have an answer is insane. Why
can’t we answer happy - or healthy, or inspiring, or content, or naked on a
beach? Why can’t my life goal be to make people smile? What is wrong with
choosing a future not based on a pay cheque or corporate ladder? Why can’t I
work in a fast food restaurant asking, “Do you want fries with that?” if it
provides me with the funds to live a happy life? Why do we assume success in
life equals success in career? Why do some people still, in this day and age,
think stay-at-home parents are somehow not of as much value as the suits and
ties of the corporate world? Why do most stay-at-home parents devalue
themselves to the point that when they are asked what do you do that they
answer “Oh, I’m just a Mom.”?
Just a Mom! Holy Crap! That is one of the
hardest jobs on the planet. There is no just about it. If you define yourself
strictly by your nine to five, name plate on the door, job title on a business
card persona, then you are doing yourself a huge disservice. I think this is
why so many people today are really struggling with the realities of a weak
economy. If people measure their worth based on a job, what happens when they
no longer have that job? Right now, so many people are struggling with
job-loss-related depression. They see job loss, even through no fault of their
own, as a huge sign of failure.
Answer this question right now: “So what do
you do?”
Did you just answer with a job title? If
you did, you need to take a big long look at yourself in the mirror. What do
you see? I know that when I look in the mirror, I see someone with grey hair
caused by being a mother, a double chin thanks to being the wife of an amazing
man that cooks, blood shot eyes from binge watching one too many episodes of The
Walking Dead and laugh lines around said blood shot eyes from loving life and
laughing along the way. I don’t see a Career Coach. I’m not even sure what a
Career Coach would look like.
I guess my point is this: don’t lose sight
of who you are if you lose your job. You will always be considerably more than
a line or two on a business card. Take the time to remind yourself that while
you may not currently be a geologist, administrative assistant, welder, salesperson
or whatever, you still have countless other things that make you – you.
No comments:
Post a Comment