Waiting for the other shoe to drop

c. ptoday.blogspot.com

As humans, we tend to like security. We like to have our bases covered. We like to know that we can have a paycheck to depend on. So we arm ourselves with education, 401ks, and stock plans. Imagine our terror when any or all of these become dubious; which they can at any moment.

Raoul is soft-spoken, extremely intelligent and accomplished computer programmer. He’s no Dilbert, but he definitely wears the “IT" badge with his khakis, sweaters and loafers. He has worked for 10 years at the same computer company in a small town in Texas. He has been hearing rumors for the past few months that the company was laying off people.

He is in an all too common situation with his career these days, in that he has no job security. His company has decided to shut down his state’s particular branch of the operation, and do everything from their home operation in Missouri. Since Raoul is in Texas, that would be quite a commute or move, as it were. They have told current employees that there is a chance some of them might be able to keep their jobs and work remotely. But nothing is guaranteed.

He is handling this way better than I would. He doesn’t seem at all phased by it .

I asked him how he makes it through the day. He said, we go to work and make sure their resumes are in order for other prospective jobs. You just live minute by minute, which is the only thing you can do.

In a situation where you are “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” so to speak; a relationship gone bad, pending layoff from a job; it can be tough to function in  uncertainty. But we have to do it anyway. We live in uncertain times.

It’s important to make a habit of living in this moment in order to keep one’s sanity in just such uncertain situations. Don’t be distracted by what-ifs. It is easier to get through a moment, than to take on the potential worries of an entire lifetime. Focus on what is going on now. That is all we are guaranteed, anyway.

c. 2011