Change in the Workplace

It's a curious phenomenon, the fear many people have of change. I suspect it has something to do with wanting to be in control. We see what's going on around us, and we scare ourselves with the pace, with the intensity of change. If only things would simply stay the same!

Friends recently gave birth to a beautiful girl, whose name is Anjuli Maya Dutta. Neat, eh? And within the definitions of her given names is a clue for dealing with change.

Her middle name is Maya, which means, roughly, "illusion." In Buddhist thought there is the phrase, "All is maya." This means that we really don't ever penetrate to the core of what's happening. We see what we choose to see. Thinking change is "bad or difficult," for me, is maya.

I found a helpful quote the other day:

"I am in charge of my life while recognizing
I am not in control."

We can neither deny nor control change. Projects change, managers and co-workers change - the economy changes. Minute by minute. Our maya, our illusion, is that, if only we were "better" things wouldn't "change" (read, be so hard.) The way past distress is the recognition of the inevitability of change, and the ability to be in charge of my response to change.

Anjuli, her father told me, in Bengali and other Indian languages, means, roughly, "an offering or sacrifice given to the gods which is blessed and then returned for our enjoyment and prosperity."

In this name is the seed of contentment. What if I understand that my gift is my vocation and that the gift I give to "the gods" is my wholehearted participation in the tasks I am given? I can't and wouldn't want to control outside situations (I'm not God.) I can and do choose to respond out of my wish to achieve excellent results in my work, and thus "be a blessing."

Far too often, work is seen as a drudgery to be gotten through as opposed to an opportunity to serve. My task is to swim gently in a sea of change, contributing what I see as my gifts, without attachment to the results. In other words, I do what I do out of anjuli, while never missing the maya.

Imagine being blessed with those names. Acting out of a sense of blessing while noticing that all is illusion. Methinks Anjuli's parents have given this child the keys to the universe.

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