1.7 Common Lessons at Work
Most people spend half of their life at work (some of them even more). We call them “workaholics.”
Work means a lot to us. It brings us material wellbeing and allows us to pursue our plans and dreams and gain power or prestige. For these reasons, there are many possibilities to start taking to your heart too much. As you understand, creating idealizations at work can result in spiritual lessons your Guardian will send your way.
The workplace contains many of the same objects of idealization that might be found in other situations.
Idealizing Material Values
While working, it is very easy to begin idealizing money, material goods and expensive things. It is very easy to become envious of your more successful coworker who has a better house or a car, without seeing big opportunities of changing your own financial situation.
Some people take it easy, while others plunge into a long-term grief on this account. If these things cause us to suffer, we start judging ourselves harshly, become unhappy with ourselves, or even take offense with Life for not providing us with enough money or material goods. We can also grow to be envious of other people who earn more.
These results do not mean that we should stop trying to earn more money or achieve material wealth. Earn as much as you can. Yet, developing the right attitude toward material wealth is more important. If you idealize material things and you if you believe that life without them makes no sense to you (if you exaggerate their significance), then you can face tremendous obstacles when you try to increase your income. This way, Life teaches you a lesson about your wrong attitude toward important material values—particularly, you are living an acceptable life without these things, even if you do not believe that you have a decent life.
This idealization takes different forms. Some of us hate wealthy people for being rich, and we believe that we are losers because we do not have as much money. Others passionately dream of buying a huge new house or a luxurious car, and they become depressed when these dreams do not come true. Yet, other people have the goal of earning a lot of money and become aggressive and hostile when they do not achieve the wealth that they idealize.
As you may have already guessed, it is absolutely normal to strive for a larger income, a better car, or a nicer house; however, we should not become offended or be annoyed with Life for a long period of time if things do not work out the way we want. We may turn upset and vent our frustration by swearing or hitting things to get rid of our negative emotions, but it is important that we do not create prolonged negative emotions inside. If these emotions start manifesting themselves, our Guardian will make an immediate effort to make our life even worse. Now, when it got worse, we understand that it was really unwise to complain about our earlier material situation. Life can always throw us down to the lower levels—to complete poverty, humiliation, or even death.
Idealizing Power
The other objects of idealization are power, honor, worship, and excellence. These values are usually idealized by individuals who own businesses, especially the ones who achieved tremendous success unpredictably fast. Let’s say they were not very successful in the past and then suddenly jumped to being a head of a financial institution or a trade company, gaining almost unlimited resources and control over money, property, people, etc. For this reason, they feel euphoria and they believe that they can do everything they want, becoming arrogant toward their less-fortunate colleagues.
Life takes very strict measures against such arrogance.
Being eventually put under certain circumstances (fraud or bankruptcy), this conceited person becomes surrounded by people whom he previously despised. If it is impossible to undermine his material wealth, his Guardian works out a program for him when he gets sick, sued, or “exterminated” and is returned to the lower levels of the Subtle World. Such a person does not go to the upper levels, as you understand.
Idealizing Trust in Other People
Another typical belief is an excessive faith in people, exaggerating their honesty, decency, or responsibility. This idealization may manifest itself in too much trust in a business partner, when you do not ask for proofs of reliability when doing business.
People often borrow money from each other, and it is normal; however, if you idealize the person to whom you lend the money, he will destroy your idealization by not paying you back.
Almost all of us have faced situations when our good acquaintances do not keep their promises. If you trust them too much and do not take measures to protect your interests, and they betray your trust, then all that is left for you is to grieve and become upset with Life. You should not get upset, however. You need to realize that these events were meant to make you stop idealizing others, placing too much trust in them.
Idealizing Our Plans
Another erroneous belief concerns the efforts to control the whole world and to achieve our goals at any cost. We all make plans for our future in one way or another; however, not all of us become unreasonably upset if our plans do not work out. When we are at work, it is easy for our Guardian to determine if we idealize our plans:
He simply destroys them. In these circumstances, the more we insist on sticking to our plan, the worse it will work out. If we cannot accept our failure as a loss in a game and we aggressively continue trying to achieve our goals at any cost, then we face even more counteraction from our Guardian.
We should not stop working toward our goals after a failure occurs. It is normal to make plans, pursue them, and apply our knowledge and energy toward achieving them. Yet, we should not take offense if something does not happen the way we want. Do not hold a grudge against those people who do not meet your requirements, who disagree with you, or who do something incorrectly according to your point of view. Do not judge them. On the outside you may be strict, demanding, and even cruel, but only within the norms of the game called “my business.”
You can get emotional, write complaints, and sue somebody, but do it without anger—with forgiveness, understanding, and compassion toward others when they lose.
If you do not pass Life’s tests, get annoyed, and start judging others or yourself, then your situation will grow increasingly worse until your plans are completely destroyed by negative circumstances. This way, you will come to understand that it is not the end of the world when your plans fail.
The other extreme of this idealization manifests itself in an excessive anxiety and doubt: “Did I do everything correctly? What if something unexpected happens? Maybe I forgot something?” These kinds of questions indicate a lack of trust in your surrounding world and show an exaggeration of your inability to reach your goals. This idealization will also be destroyed through unhappy events or illnesses brought to your life.
These principles apply to any kind of planning, whether it concerns a purchase, construction, education, or family planning.
Self-Diagnosis of the Spiritual Lessons While at Work
You can tell whether Life is trying to teach you any lessons when things stop working out for you.
If none of your plans are ever implemented and you consistently suffer misfortune, it means that Life is teaching you a serious lesson. Your SA is overflowing, and your problems might even worsen in the future. To help yourself, you must identify your idealizations and erroneous convictions, and ask Life to forgive you for attaching too much importance to your plans or other aspects of your life. You exaggerate the importance of your goals, but in reality, nothing frightening will happen to you if they never materialize. After all, you are alive and healthy, despite all your apprehensions and stress, and it seems that indulging yourself in suffering is the wrong thing to do.
Instead, you should deem your problems as a loss of just one set in a game and tune yourself to winning the next one; however, you should gear your anxiety to winning over yourself first of all, not over Life in general. Life always wins, no matter how things turn out.
To avoid having idealizations about work, it would be advantageous for you to occasionally change jobs. It will help you to detect early when you start to attach excessive importance to your professional victories or defeats. While keeping in mind that you will only have the same position at your present work for a limited number of years/months, you will not attach excessive importance to your professional victories or defeats. Thus, you will not be offended with Life, and it will be easier for you to become professionally successful.
It is not easy, however, for all of us to change our job or business. It is quite difficult for miners, railroad workers, pilots, farmers, etc. People of such professions should learn not to take offense with their life; otherwise, their idealizations will be destroyed severely. Sadly enough, our Guardians are not interested in our earthly problems. They want our souls to be perfect and are not concerned with how our bodies survive.
Of course, there are many other aspects of our earthly existence, such as business, private life, health, creative pursuits, hobbies, sex, and so on. We are constantly being taught lessons in each of these areas when Life uses the same educational methods: destroying our plans, wrecking our success, provoking spousal betrayal, etc. For example, let us see how our idealizations can result in a car accident.
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