Suppose you work for a company that develops software. When you first begin working there, you may be focused on the idea of landing a good job, doing interesting work, and beginning a career with strong long-term potential. Or perhaps you’re just a geek who loves coding. At first you may be happy, even fulfilled in this situation. But as you mature and your values change, you may begin searching for more meaning in your life, and this could lead you to raise your standards about the type of work you’re willing to do. The same old projects no longer seem as interesting as they once were, so you look for more challenging and interesting assignments. As you continue along this path, you may begin looking more critically at the overall contribution you’re making, both to your company and to the world. Suppose you know that your company’s real [tag]motivation[/tag] is simply to make a profit and that the software it develops isn’t really needed. Perhaps it generates income largely from market inefficiencies and buyer ignorance rather than by providing genuine unique value.
Now you have a tough decision to make. Do you stay with the company and try to justify your decision (thereby lowering your awareness), do you leave (thereby keeping your awareness high), or do you attempt to transform the company from within (thereby using your awareness to raise the awareness of others)?
This isnt an easy decision to make, but the key to living in a way that works in the long run is that you need to keep yourself from becoming stuck at a fixed level of consciousness. If you pursue the development and expansion of your consciousness, you will experience some upheaval in your life. But that doesnt mean your purpose is poorly chosen it just means you need to go through a process of shedding that which is incongruent with your purpose. And if youre like most people, thats going to mean a lot of shedding. It will probably take years. But you’ll come out the other side much stronger and a lot happier.
The tunnel is hard, but it doesnt last forever, and it leads to a wonderful place that youll never want to leave once you experience it.
