A couple of nights ago I had an unusual dream. I was in my bedroom in my childhood home, when all of a sudden this praying mantis showed up. It was a large praying mantis, about the size of a dog. I threw a handful of bugs towards it, and it gobbled them up. It then moved nearer to me, and I could see that spikes were growing on its head. I didn't feel scared at all. And that's all I remember.
I only pay attention to my dreams when there's something memorable about them. When I woke up, I remembered the praying mantis, and I wanted to find out what it meant. Apparently, seeing a praying mantis in your dream suggests that you are in a destructive relationship. So I had a think through my relationships and came to the conclusion that the only one that could possibly fit the bill is my relationship with my job.
It just so happens that during my working day before I had the dream, my legs were feeling stiff from lack of movement. I had a strong desire to go for a run just to get the blood flowing. Sitting at my desk in the office for hours on end can't be good for my body. So, was my subconscious telling me that my job will bring destruction of a physical nature, or was it something deeper?
If we're talking job satisfaction, there are certainly aspects of my job that I do not enjoy. Yesterday was particularly unenjoyable. I spent the entire day calling prospects and rattling off the same spiel. Hardly anyone was interested. All in all, it was an empty day. However, last week I felt good after having convinced a prospect to buy. I made a sale. I tooted the horn. My boss recognised my value to the company. I guess you could say that I have a love/hate relationship with my job. Some days it seems challenging, other days it seems like a complete waste of time.
I was reading something the other day about what you need to get out of your job in order to feel passionate about it. You see, passion at work is not just about the product or service you are selling. It depends on two key aspects: whether you are doing something that has meaning for you (which can come from either the product involved or the process) and whether or not you are making progress. If you're able to find yourself a job that meets these criteria, your level of engagement, fulfilment, and ultimately, contribution, will rise exponentially.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Dreams and Reality
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3 comments:
If you interpret anyone's dreams as indicative of having a destructive relationship, you'll find everyone can name a relationship to something/someone or some matter that they'll be on poorer terms with. I've got a destructive relationship with my feet. I haven't remembered many of my dreams recently. I always go through phases when I do.
So what is your current plan in regards to your job and future employment?
Much like your phases where you remember your dreams, I have phases where work brings me no joy. My day in the office before I had the dream was monotonous, but it could have seemed more so than usual because I had just got back from the Easter break. During the day, I was somewhat bothered by the fact that I was spending hours in a sedentary position doing repetitive tasks, and these feelings were expressed subconsciously through my dream.
My current plan in regards to my job is to stay with it and see where it takes me. I am getting experience, after all, and I don't think there's any point in being overly idealistic when it comes to work.
Every night after replying, I have had extraordinarily vivid dreams - once even the sound outside my room merged with the dream (although it could have been my dream invading my waking phase...).
One interesting dream was where I had the control over this house/hostel. A criminal bigwig came to stay ('Horse' from Rude Awakenings). That was fine until I righteously denied him access to something he was not entitled to. He was enraged and chased me with his henchman. I hid well but eventually ran out of options. While they were on my tail, I ducked around a corner and then down a driveway. They came round the corner and couldn't see anything. I kept going deeper into the property, into a garden, where there were two mini-Javan rhinos standing side by side. I looked to my right and there was a lion. Not wanting to run any further I offered the lion my neck (related to a theme in a buddhist story I heard on the way down to Taupo).
Yeah, the way your present mind perceives something can be different one time to the next.
Best of luck in your persisting quest.
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