Behaving Professionally

This means the development of the ability to absolutely park your personal life in a healthy way. By healthy I do not mean denying any problems you are facing in life, I mean acknowledging them and putting them to one side. This is usually for a short time, just for the time needed to do the work-thing that calls. Professionalism at work is how new seeds are sown.

We are not robots. We all experience the challenges life throws at us, there will be grief or trouble with homes or children or partners. These experiences will, in time, enrich us as humans, and as professionals, even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time!

“there is a place, a sacred space,… “

I think it’s about holding the balance. If we fall into these experiences totally it can be hard to pull ourselves out again. Conversely, if we deny their existence, then the feelings will leak out all over the place. There is a place, a sacred space, between these two things, where we can step into our truly present and professional selves. We can for short periods of time, lift ourselves up out of our difficulties in order to be of service in the world. When you can put yourself aside, even for a moment, you open yourself up to all sorts of new richness.

That! That’s what I’m working on. I am trusting that being really present and really listening and actively witnessing is the most valuable thing that I can bring. I feel a damn sight more valuable when I can gift to the world as well as merely take from it.