Going For A Promotion

There is nothing wrong with aiming high at work - as long as we're clear about whose dream we are pursuing. Are we following our dream, or are we trying to please parents or peers? Or are we styling ourselves on someone we've seen on TV or in magazines? Whatever our dream, where our ambitions go, so too does life's energy. Unless we know who we are, then we can become caught up in whatever attracts us at the time, rather than in what makes our souls sing. Sometimes success at work can be as harmful as failure, because we become locked into lifestyles and attitudes that demand all we've got.

That's when we cease to honour our own needs - when we start to behave in the way that lacks consistency and decency - when we allow our ambitions to override our judgement - when we put money before people - when we settle for the job with the big pay packet, rather than the job we're passionate about. We can have working lives that have depth and meaning, or we can spend our days skating along on the surface of life.

So, whenever we are faced with a new opportunity around work, we need to be clear whether this new position will enhance who we are intrinsically. Do we want to spend our lives on planes and in hotels? Do we want to take clients out night after night? And if so - why do we want these things? Because we love people and travel, or because we want the salary and the corner office? For each of us the answers will be different, but when we can work soulfully, we are able to live soulfully, and work doesn't even feel like work.

Conscious Living Magazine