Question: I work for a large corporation and receive an excellent salary for my work. While I like my work, I am starting slowly to change how I see the world and I am seeing that my firm does not support my values and beliefs as much as a small company or charity perhaps might. So I have two questions for you: do you think it is emotionally damaging to continue to work for a company that does not share one’s vision of the world and do you think I should I give up working for it?
Boy, those are both biggie questions and I am sure you are not the only one around asking them, as with our world becoming ever more transparent, more and more of us are becoming ever more aware of the fact that the value systems of many companies may need shifting. Interesting, isn’t it, how having a conscience or becoming more aware of what is ‘wrong with our world’ often makes our lives more complicated!
At one level, I suppose you need to ask yourself what is the lesser of two evils: do you compromise your pay packet in order to stand up for your values or do you compromise what you are increasingly coming to stand for, in order that you keep your good salary? Perhaps you need to ask yourself which is the most important: your money or your life! Ha ha! If you have eleven children to feed or you don’t want to sacrifice your luxury holidays, then the question is decided for you.
Interestingly, what makes this issue more problematic is that you like your work! I mean if you hated what you do and did it just because it brought in the bacon, this dilemma would be easier to resolve. That said, who knows that you can’t also have your cake and eat it! I say this as you are presuming that only smaller firms or charities have values similar to yours and that none pay well. Maybe this isn’t the case so I would certainly try and see what smaller firms or charities pay and also if there are some big organisations around with values you agreed with.
I am someone who likes the idea of life being an adventure and I think you need to use this dilemma positively, as an opportunity to explore new avenues and perhaps if you found somewhere new to work that did pay less, you might find your new work so creatively fulfilling that making the shift would be worth it for you. (I think the more dissatisfied we are, the more we feel driven to need a lot of money to compensate!) I also think we need to measure well being or abundance in ways other than just material. Yes, materially you might be downsizing a bit, but because your new work might be so interesting emotionally and creatively, taking it on might actually be up-sizing! Personally, I think the kind of work we do is very important and I feel very sorry for people who have to do something they hate simply to put bread on the table, and I know this is a lot of people’s lot in life today. But at least it ain’t yours!
In my life, I have always worked with people, trying to help them get well, sort their heads out, be more themselves and I love doing this as I love people. It makes me feel good. In no way would I substitute this for sitting in an office all day even if I was paid huge amounts. The price I’d pay would be too big. But that’s me. I think you need to listen to your heart as this part will tell you what you need to do. This is not a problem you face. It is a great opportunity.
What Liberates?
The Oxford Dictionary defines liberation as: ‘the act of setting someone free from slavery, imprisonment or oppression’. Liberation, therefore, has both inner and outer dimensions which are intrinsically inter-related because if we are not free inside ourselves, it will inevitably limit our ability to live a liberated outer life, even if the society we live in is a relatively free one. The same can hold true the other way around as well. Many of us, therefore, need liberating not only…