Getting feedback:
In just about any job, especially when you first start out, you are probably going to get some sort of feedback as to how you are doing. It might be in a formal, sit-down situation, such as with my current job, or it might just be in the unspoken body language of your supervisor. Either way, there will be opinions about how you are doing, and if you are a keen observer, you can pick up on these. What you do with this feedback can really be a great place to practice. If you receive good feedback, and puff yourself up because of it, you are strengthening the false sense of self that is the ego. The stronger the ego, the less connected you are with reality. But the ego doesn't just like to be praised, it is also strengthened by blame. Even blame strengthens the ego in the sense that it reaffirms that it does in fact exist, and then it feels sorry for itself.
Even though I have some teaching experience, the job I'm in now is quite specific and not all the skills are the same. I have a long way to go, but it's still a challenge to recieve criticism without getting defensive. My challenge is therefore to take criticism with a smile, knowing that I have room for improvement, and to take compliments without letting it get to my head.
"Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind . To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all." - The Buddha
Trash talking:
Another area we can potentially practice while at work is when it comes to talking about others in the workplace, be it co-workers, bosses, or customers. This is a real trap, as in one way, it offers the promise of building a bridge, a way to bond with co-workers and turn them into friends. If you just go along with their remarks about others, it can go a long way in their eyes, and it's easy to do, especially if you agree. Similarly, if you think you have an opinion that they will agree with, it's an easy to hook to throw out there. If they bite, then it's a green-light to bad-mouth the other person whenever the chance arises. As a working relationship continues, this bridge can be strengthened and you readily turn to each other to unload the latest complaint or judgment about the third party.
I've always had a big mouth and an even bigger opinion, but now I'm starting to see that there is nothing good that comes from this. Even if it feels good to find someone who has the same opinion, it doesn't feel good to talk trash about someone else. It's a complete lack of compassion and again, strengthens the ego and the sense of separteness between myself and the rest of the world. As long as this separation exists, I will be unable to see things as they really are and I'll never have access to the freedom and natural joy that is my birthright.
The challenge with trash talking at work is how to find positive things to say about others, and how to listen with compassion to someone who is talking trash without biting the hook? Needless to say, it's not easy, and I'm glad I've had the clarity to notice the early trends now before the bridge is too reinforced to break without an earthquake.
Not taking what isn't given:
I know this sounds stupid, but it's true. I used to take things from the places I worked. Not often and not much, but for example, I might take a couple batteries or some nails, something simple that I knew I needed but didn't want to buy. Beyond that, I might be inclined to take another's belongings if they were left out heedlessly. Some of the things are almost so silly that I used to justify it by saying. "It's just a pencil, they probably wouldn't even care." Okay, on some occasions, that may have actually been true, but the reality remains the same, they weren't given to me.
Many of my friends have been known for taking a ridiculous amount of things from work, to the point where it was even sort of a respected thing to do. For example, if someone worked in a restaurant, they might stock their kitchen at home forks and knives from their workplace. The restaurant might not even have noticed, but that's not the point. If everyone just skims a little off the top, it starts to add up. Even if it doesn't, even if there are no consequences, we are still cultivating an unwholesome mind state by taking things that aren't offered to us.
Especially with my friends, I used to take advantage of the theory that they wouldn't mind. Sometimes, the delusion woudl be so strong that I would later learn that they did in fact mind and was suprised to find out so. One of the five precepts that Buddhists are suggested to follow is to not take what has not been given, and this principle has really made me realize how automatic such a thing had become for me. I wouldn't hesitate about taking something that I figured wasn't significant or important, and it was perpetuating the I-centered universe that I had been living in. If everything resolves around us, then it only makes sense that we should be able to take what we wish, but this is ignorance at its finest. Wouldn't it be nice to know that if you left your nice pen out overnight, it would still be there in the morning? Should we really have to be that careful with our personal belongings, always fearing that someone will conveniently swipe anything that is left around?
Can you find some opportunites to practice at your workplace? If so, please feel free to share your thoughts!
Oh, and by the way, I'm still looking for that pen that I left out the other day...
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