Working Against Ourselves

You're fired. Those words that can cause fear to rise up in all of us. It's kind of ironic that they became a catchphrase on a TV show. I'm not sure if we revel in other people's misery or if we find the situation to be a benefit to them, even if they are fired on a grand scale.

Others, like George Costanza, want to get fired. It is like they just have this desire to not be employed. Sometimes people do it with panache, while other times it is just general incompetence. Most of us, however, need to keep our jobs for the sake that it supports the rest of our life. We find it difficult to eat, live, play, or just enjoy anything without a little money.

I just had a chance to observe a group where everyone was complaining about their job, and they were supposedly "desirous" of getting fired. This is a tricky situation, as getting fired means so much more, like the loss of income and the ability to make a living. Some think getting fired in the correct way is tremendous, as it can come connected to things like Unemployment if it is accomplished in certain ways.

Nevertheless, I posit that one's desire to get fired can be related to their reliance on the income. I know someone who has wanted to leave his job for years, but he just can't leave, because he needs the income to support his family. I know others who bound aimlessly from one short term job to the next, largely because the income is all superfluous to their need.

I recently have been threatened with the loss of a couple of different jobs. (Yeah, I have multiple jobs). One struck at the very core of my need and really scared me. I did nothing wrong, and yet I was concerned that my way of life would need to change. It was the state of Florida inadvertently removing my license.

I also am the volunteer coach of my son's flag football team. Someone threatened to have me removed from that job. Oddly, that threat gave me no extra consternation. Losing that "job" was almost a thought of exuberance, because it is a lot of work and no benefit, other than the joy of watching my son play. This knowledge kind of made me emboldened. I spoke with authority and without fear of repercussion.

It was then that I realized that the lack of fear sometimes makes you better, yet when we need to be better, we have that fear. I don't know if that is fixable, but the human condition seems to make us worse at certain tasks when we need to be better. Therefore, I determined to move forward with the same courage when I cared, as when I didn't. Let's see if I can last one minute or two in that new resolution!