3P Random Reflections Blog

After 27 years, and more than half my life working for the same company, I made the decision to jump.

It's not like this idea hadn't occurred to me before, and it appears that I am not alone. Pretty well every person I've ever spoken to has shared their numerous frustrations with their current work situation and their powerlessness in affecting change. In that moment, they weren't able to see for themselves any different perspective or any viable alternative. But despite their protests, they eventually got back to work, and somewhat forgot about their woes until the next wave of disappointment. Me included.

What's interesting is how often everyone sees their current work problem as something happening entirely outside of themselves, and rarely make the connection to how their naturally varying state of mind in each moment affects their experience of it. They continue to have thoughts about the same problem from one day to the next, but don't notice how those thoughts vary, and how their feelings vary along with them. They may be adamant that a particular situation is "bad", but they don't notice how often they don't feel that bad about it. They don't notice the significance of the fact that sometimes it affects them and sometimes it doesn't, even when the situation hasn't changed in any way.

And that used to be my experience as well until a couple of years ago when I got a glimpse behind the curtain. Until then, I had no idea that I was the wizard in my own personal world of Oz. I thought the world was happening around me, and had no idea it was happening inside of me. But once the wizard is seen, it can't really be unseen, and so all of the illusions of thought began to fall. And what was left for me was the realization of the simple and yet incomprehensible truth of being human. The profound realization that underneath everything we think is nothing but unconditional love.

Now I know that could seem pretty "out there" and may not make any sense at all. And truthfully, even though I can remember what I've felt and experienced, I still get caught up in all the magic tricks of the human mind. But ultimately, I also remember quite often...

• That this is the game of life
• That I don't need to pay attention to whatever dodgy thoughts may be swirling in my head at any moment in time
• That any bad feeling isn't pointing to any truth, but instead is just telling me that in this moment, I happen to be in a naturally occurring, unhelpful state of mind
• And that just realizing this in any moment allows my thoughts to flow on through as they are designed to do, so I get access to a clearer head on the "what-makes-sense" next step to take.

And sometimes the next clear step is to jump. 

Overview