the
Insights that
U
nemployment is a state many of us worried about and feared for many years, especially in times of global financial crises. When unemployment finally strikes, our mental health often come under siege. Job hunting is an emotional rollercoaster ride of raised hopes and disappointments. Our minds know no end of worrying about what the future might bring: losing our home? Downsizing our lifestyle?
Buddhist teachings inform us, however, that seeing our job—or any role we play, be it worker, parent or volunteer—as our identity limits us immensely.
Text: Sarah Napthali,
author of Buddhism for Mothers
With our essential Buddha nature, we are beings with an infinite capacity to love others, act courageously and contribute to the world. Losing our jobs, without a specific role to play, we may feel lost and insecure in the first weeks of unemployment, but many then discover other ways to give that enrich their families, friends and communities.
You are not your job. You are not your role.
Editor: if you need help with seeking a job, please scan the below, or visit https://vcf. mycareersfuture.gov.sg/ employment-help/ for assistance
Why limit your identity?
did you know?
Excerpted from the book, Buddhism for Parents on the Go
One of the greatest challenges unemployment poses is to our identity. For most of us, our job contributes enormously to our sense of who we are. “What do you do?” is invariably one of our first questions on meeting someone new.
Unempl yment Can Bring
no.49 | jan-apr 2021 |
13
