Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Grateful.

World's favourite story-teller @Crossword
 Me: "You know what? Jeffrey Archer is in the town today!"
N: "Wow. I'm jealous. Going then?"
Me: "No, got loaded with work. Stuck in the traffic now."
N: "You're good for nothing."

This conversation at the end of a Monday like Tuesday makes me want to scream at myself and everyone around. Just how I want to when the wi-fi stops working in the middle of a long awaited Skype session. Just how I wanted to when my Team Lead demanded (at 5:30pm) for a shitty excel to be updated by EOD. I could go on with so many just-hows which most of us would resonate with. Hello, corporate biggies! 

I might not be a veteran but I have been a part of corporate culture for quite some time now. Long enough to be a wearer to know where exactly the shoe pinches. Mondays, team meetings, manager, status calls, client escalation. Some of the keywords that touch a raw nerve by their mere existence. In spite of all that, what is it that keeps a corporate tag hanging around the neck? Is it merely a 'Salary Credited' text that we await for the entire month or some appreciation e-mail from our manager? Or maybe a promotion? The answer is subjective. 

No matter how much we crib over our evening coffee breaks, we still would come to work next morning. Because there is something utterly vital that keeps us going. Something utterly important, may be, to your family if not you. Something that makes you gulp the frustration down the throat after a bad day.

So, I would say, while you let the hatred for this job drive you to find your passion, be happy and grateful for at least the time you're around. Value that 'something' and let it be the force behind being tad grateful for this tiny winy job. Thank the pricks in your team for taking your patience to an entire new level. Thank the not-so-likeminded people that made you realize how you are round pegs in square holes. Also, be grateful for the gentler ones who made you believe, no matter how bad, professional the world is, a warm human connection surpasses everything. 

Now while you pin point your different colleagues for each of the scenarios, I'd say, take some time out today, grab a cup of coffee, sit at the happiest corner of your house and prepare a 'Grateful for' list. Because as they say, be thankful, it is when grace follows. 

Finding Home

I moved to Canada about 2 years ago. The world around and within me changed. Now, this realization wasn’t instantaneous. Definitely not th...