Since the start of 2020 millions have lost their jobs from (mostly) covid-19 lock downs and business closures. All over the internet you see articles about “What to do when you are retrenched” and “How to deal when your are impacted by a company restructure”. No-one ever talks about the other side, the good side.
I was working for a global apparel company. The salary was good, I had a long history with the brand and was constantly given training on both work and life skills. I was overworked, but happy, I was not coping as a mother and a wife, but felt a sense of accomplishment in my career, I had no time to allow my creativity to bloom outside of my mind, but I was enjoying the service I was giving to my fellow employee family. Then COVID hit and very soon the dream of working from home turned into the nightmare none of us knew it would be.
I was feeling stretched too thin, my home became a constant stream of emails and projects and the home schooling got further and further behind. I spent many days praying for a way forward, to know what God wants me to do. I knew something had to give, I know I was yearning to be more creative, even had a list on my PC of what I wanted to do and try and yet there seemed to be no way out.
Very often my prayers went from asking for answers to explaining to God that I was not so good at listening and that the subtle nudging and prompting from the Holy Spirit was not effective and that I do not know when He is speaking and when it was just me projecting. I asked for a good, hard shove. #foreshadowing
There was no indication at my company that my post would ever be redundant, I was working longer and harder than I had ever worked, and yet, I knew…. I knew freedom was coming.
Then came the call. An “invitation” to “consult”. I answered the phone and heard HR’s voice.
And I knew before she even said a word.
I had this strange sensation in my stomach and bowels (No, I did not do that but I certainly understand the expression now) and as I hung up the call a strange calm came over me, a quiet relieve and a titillating feeling of excitement on what is to come brought an awed smile to my face.
I am fully aware that for many people out there the experience was not the same, however, do we ever address the other side of the coin? Some of us are joyous and free from the corporate politics and can now become a valuable person, we can now live our values and contribute in a deeper way to make this world a better place.
And for some who felt their worlds come crashing down around them at the sound of “Your position has been impacted,” #politically-correct-terminology who felt that the end of the line has been reached and that they will never get out of the pit they had been thrown into, many will find their worth in this space, many will find their purpose in these times.
Yes, I am an optimist, but that does not make me a special breed. I do believe that we have enough positive people in this world, and enough negative thinkers with the potential to change their mindset, for this “COVID-work-apocalypse” to be the catalyst this world needs to become a better place for all of us.
And if this article has connected just one negative-thinker with the potential inside them to be who they were born to be, I would say… My job here is done.
