Frustrated ?

Recently I attended a meeting of Programme Officers in which our Senior most Officer of the zone also participated. Apart from normal official business, what I observed was that most of participants were frustrated from current state of affairs. The overall view was that we were not getting what we deserve and that we are being cheated by the organisation. The overall work atmosphere has deterioted too much and there is nothing left for us to work or get satisfaction from our work. Our officer gave all of us a patient hearing. (That is his biggest quality. He always gives a person complete chance to air his views openly and completely and he never out rightly reject his subordinate's opinion and even never question a person’s ability to do a work) He agreed with staffmembers views but asserted that we must think what is best for us in the current circumstances. If we become aloof and inert or if we react in an extraordinary manner then Department will justify its act of sidelining us.So we must introspect and try to develop positive attitude even in adverse situation. After all we are being paid handsomely in terms of pay. Many of us may not agree with his views and say that he is preaching because afterall he has already got post and place.


Later on I thought, thought and thought.(After all thinking is my passion). I try to understand what make us frustrated. Most of us are in our Forties and Fifties. This is a period where we are in a position to just look back in our life and evaluate what we have gained or lost in life. Secondly, during this period our Children are in an age where some crucial decisions may have to be taken regarding them. Our parents may be too old and sick. They also expect proper caring. So there is a lot of pressure.
So when we look back and see that we deserve more then what we have got from our life and again we find that our life in the organization has become stagnant, organisation has become a shelter place for jokers, hypocrites right from the top, then we feel being let down and finally frustrated. Sometime we call it Midlife crisis, when we start questioning the very purpose of our life. Midlife crisis involves wide range of feelings such as discontent with life and the lifestyle that may have provided happiness for many years, feeling cheated with people who have developed some kind of bond and have been really close to us, feeling adventurous and wanting to do something completely different and finally questioning the meaning of life. This led to evaluating the validity of decisions made years before. These feelings at mid-life can occur naturally, or they can be brought on by external factors.

So what is the way out? Should we only cry, cry and cry or should we try to chart out a course to live life happily even in an adverse situation? The answer is obviously second one. This is the only way.