The moon could not go on shining if it paid attention to all the little dogs that barked at it.
--- Celinda Bowlds

Them people – yes, them people – at your job are giving you holy crap. No wait, there ain’t nothin’ at all holy about what they’re doing; them people givin’ you hell! They pile on more work, discount your efforts, and have never once stopped to see that it’s you who make the wheels of the organization turn. You find yourself taking work home; working extra hard on the weekends to stay ahead of the game; and feel so much pressure, you think before long, you’re going to blow – and that will not be pretty for anybody! On top of all that, you get an itty bitty check at the end of the month!

The flip side is – no matter how much it all sucks – you are THE bomb at what you do! You love what you do so much that you do it with excellence. Your work is quality; your work habits are enviable and should be emulated. The precision with which you do your job is stellar and no one even comes close to making it happen in the way you do.

And that’s the problem. The way in which you do your work scares the hell out of the people around you who can see that you do better work than them. They don’t want to be outdone because it means you may rise to higher ranks. They will do, say, and play any stupid and hackneyed game possible to see to it that doesn’t happen. And we know good and well why they don’t they want you to rise. Yep, it’s the same old tired song we’ve endured since who knows when; you’re parents and their parents went through it, too. That same old dirge – their inherent, inherited beliefs about who you are, some ol’ itshay planted in ‘em that said you were never supposed to rise higher or have more than them. So, in this day and age they pull that old subtle game of laying more on you and, thinking they way they do about you, they think you’ll buckle.

You ain’t never buckled before have you? You made it this far by being unconquerable, unwavering, and formidable. Why on earth are they able to push you now? Hell, push ‘em back!

The trick is not to let them bark louder than your work. Ever. Anywhere. Whether you decide to stay where you are or leave for a newer place, never let ‘em take your shine ‘cause you are supreme at what you do. There’ll be dogs everywhere, even if you do what you do entrepreneurially. Some of the bitc- oops, dogs may do more than howl, some may bite and be rabid and cause you to have to cuss they assets out or sue them for all they got. Get you a good lawyer.

You are a champion at what you do. Never forget that and keep on getting better. Eventually the dogs will get tired of all that damn noise, or at least accustomed to the fact that the orange moon shines. Maybe they’ll sit their assets down and move on to something they can do something about. Until them – and hopefully we won’t have to wait for the next lifetime – make it do what it do, baby.

Sadiqqa © 2008