Giving Thanks
Damien has a lovely idea which I have benefited from in the past few days.
It being the season of goodwill and all of that, it’s worth noting that this can be done in many many ways. Right now with the recession biting and many good people being let go or made go part-time, it’s worth making a little effort in pointing out to others the good work they’ve done with/for you. Other people don’t even know it but they’ll be let go soon too. It’s unfortunately inevitable. One way for me to give thanks to people is LinkedIn, where over the next few days I’ll try and recommend as many people that I worked with as I can.
In these recessionary times we need more focus on gratitude and less on misery - jobs will come and go, the economy will rise and fall but who'll be thinking of that stuff at the last hurdle? So I've taken Damien's advice - why don't you think about leaving a positive thought for someone you've worked with in the past few months? If they don't have a LinkedIn profile then perhaps they have a blog? or a Twitter account? an email address? or perhaps you might consider the old fashioned approach and pen a 'real' letter? Investing in relationships is always a win win proposition - and we all need to know we make a difference.
This is a lovely suggestion. It reminds me of Douglas Coupland's book, Girlfriend in a Coma; the girlfriend wakes up after 20 years and discovers that not only has there been lots of technological change and news she's missed, but people interact with each other in a harsher, less tolerant way.
I wonder about that in the context of Ireland, and our (relatively) recent economic changes. I certainly remember people in the 1980s as being more accepting of each others little human weaknesses, more tolerant of mistakes, kinder, gentler (in a gruff, nonchalant, Irish way, of course!) but I don't know if that is just a reflection of the economic cycle, the stage of life I was at then (in my 20s) compared to now (40s) or something entirely different.
In any case, I'm concerned about it. Can it be, for example, that the idea of forgiveness, which was considered a strength and a virtue, even by the Church, for thousands of years, is now generally perceived as a weakness?
But when I read a thoughtful blog like this one, one that subtly affirms the primacy of human rather than solely economic relationships, it makes me feel less alone. So thanks!
Posted by S. McCarthy | December 4, 2008 8:25 AM
S - I think you're right - that so much of our humanity, the very essence of what makes us human and allows us to be in relationship has undergone a cost benefit analysis as we've become used to excel-ing our way through the good times. Forgiveness, the capacity to say sorry, the willingness to admit we might have been wrong about something, our capacity to damage and our reluctance to engage in reparation may be the casualties of that so perhaps I'm strangely optimistic about these recessionary times being the beginning of what really matters. Thanks for your thoughtful comment - it deserves a posting of its own.
Posted by annette
| December 4, 2008 8:35 AM