How I Came to Focus on the Workplace

Jobs, Education and Business am often asked how I became so interested in addressing the problem of job dissatisfaction and workplace misery. Most people assume I have a long history of terrible job experiences. It is true that I have had a couple of unpleasant ones, but those experiences did not influence my decision to address the issue of workplace misery. This decision was inspired by my experience with A Course in Miracles---a guide to spiritual transformation through the application of forgiveness.

What A Course in Miracles taught me was that the answer to all problems, without exception, lies within the relationship we have with our Self. All of the relationships that we have in life, be it with people or situations, are a reflection of this one relationship. Reflection is the key word here. Our thoughts and beliefs have creative power. They create our day-to-day experiences. Our relationships are the mirror that reflects our thoughts and most cherished beliefs back to us. If I believe I am helpless, then I will attract a relationship into my life that mirrors that belief back to me.

Now, I became aware of the extent  and significance of workplace misery one night when I read an article online about a totally unrelated subject. Below the article I was reading was another titled "Job Satisfaction At An All Time Low." There were some references given at the end of this second article on job dissatisfaction. I read those references. Keep in mind, I did not specifically search for this information on workplace misery and job dissatisfaction. It came into my awareness by reading this one article, and over the next two years, more and more information came into my experience.

Soon I began to notice that  I was meeting more and more people who talked to me about their jobs. Over the past two years or so, I have had perhaps only two or three people tell me that they loved their jobs. Except for them, it has been one disheartening story after another. Once someone confided in me that there had not been a day when she did not first get high before going to work. She has been on her job for roughly 25 years. A teacher told me once that her experience in education was making her sick; she died two years later.

In another conversation, an instructor said that the campus would be a great place to work if it wasn't for "these goddamn students."  One woman confided in me that her employer had reprogrammed all the computers so that employees would not be able to check their personal emails, get on Facebook or Twitter. She said that it didn't matter to her because she could simply use her cell phone.

A woman told me once that she told her employer that she had to get her car to the shop for repairs. This required that she leave work early. The conversation with her employer took longer than she anticipated. She said that she arrived at the movies, one minute before the start of the feature presentation, disappointed because she wasn't able to get popcorn.

A close friend told me that she remembered as a little girl, at 6 or 7, playing with dolls at one of her friend's house. She recounted how they would giggle a lot, as 6 and 7 year old girls can do. But when they heard the father come in from work, they would gather their dolls, and move quickly to another room and shut the door. They would continue to play, but the giggling would cease, and they would talk in whispers. The father could not tolerate the sound of the girls' laughter. He had been working all day.

Now you might be asking, "How does all of this fit into your experience with A Course In Miracles?"  Well, almost every adult on the planet has a relationship with work and a workplace. In the United States alone, in 2010, over 40 million workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs. These workers come from all professions and income levels. In 2010, U.S. businesses reported a 300 billion dollar (US) loss in productivity due to workplace misery. The global cost was estimated at 500 billion dollars (US) in that same year. Workplace misery is nothing more than a mirror of the collective thoughts and beliefs of workers.