Your real value and self-worth are not measured by the opinion of the others!

Hello friends,

(This article is not about space! ??... keep reading...????)

In April 2001 Mars Odyssey’s space-craft was launched aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket, starting a seven months journey to the Red Planet. The space-craft is operating in Mars orbit today, about 20 years later, but a lack of advocacy might indicate its end is near. What happened? Mars Odyssey did incredible discoveries and transmitted enormous amounts of valuable data during the past 20 years. Besides the spacecraft is still “remarkably healthy” based on the words of Phil Christensen, the principal investigator for Odyssey’s Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). He says that “it’s just this crazy workhorse spacecraft that rarely goes into safe mode”. During the first year Odyssey found direct evidence of subsurface water on the planet. The orbiter currently holds the record for the longest continuous observations of the Martian weather, which is an ongoing study with implications for future human habitation of Mars. While Odyssey is nevertheless managing to still carry out its job in space, it’s struggling in the political arena. The budget released in Feb 2020 threatens the space-craft future slashing Odyssey’s funding from $12 million to around $1 million. This will effectively pull the plug on a working spacecraft, whose primary costs are human guidance and maintenance. Moreover, Odyssey has plenty of fuel left in the tank, enough for at least 10 more years of operation. All its systems are in in good health and operational. Yet mission remains on the chopping block…

Sometimes our job situation is very similar to Odyssey’s case described above. We perform our job diligently, we feel that we are the best in what we are doing, we provide value and we are treated as experts, we are full of energy and desire to continue giving our skills and talents for our company, we are loyal and hardworking, but unfortunately external circumstances out of our control are stronger when decisions are made. Acquisitions and mergers can be a cause for major restructuring, change in the company long term vision may lead to cancellation of some projects, economic downturn can lead to lack of customer’s orders, which requires for the company to cut costs, etc. etc. and then layoff events happen... In any case this is nothing to do with you. Please do not blame yourself for the fact you have been laid off, if you have done your best in your past work. In fact, you could be the best “workhorse” of the company, but when it is time to go, it is time to go. Remember that at the end of the day it is not the opinion of the others which matters – people may think: well since this person was laid off, he/she probably is not so good in his job. But the truth is that what you already have - your knowledge and experience – nobody can take this away from you. Most importantly you should know your self-worth which is coming from within – this is our attitude and our character. Our self-worth cannot be determined by external factors. Your value is still there whether you are employed or you have been laid off.  

Know who you are and love who you are, respect yourself and then the others will respect you. Know your real value regardless of the circumstances. Don’t forget to respect and love also the others around you as the relationships and communications with people create the outcomes we desire. Never fear and never attempt to instill fear in others, as this never works in the long-term, it eats away at the levels of trust and will ultimately destroy our interpersonal relations.

Believe in yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, your talents and passions, and remember that circumstances change continuously but circumstances cannot change who we are and what we are capable of – people will see this light in you, and soon your next opportunity will be knocking on your door! Have faith, and keep your hope alive! ?? ????