My first proper job was as a temp at the Meat Hygiene Service. As part of the UK civil service it was constantly under pressure, and I happened to be there just as the BSE crisis hit. That was interesting.
Later I worked in education looking after IT in a large comprehensive. There too the money was always running out, education policy was always bad and the young doomed in some fashion to stacking cones or flipping kebabs.
The end of 2010 signifies my departure from the BBC where I've been a staffer for almost nine years. Throughout that time negativity has been a companion; each charter renewal has been 'the last', the BBC Trust would break the corporation, Ross/Brand have ruined everything, standards are slipping... etc.
There is an element of truth to all of this and often the negativity is based on legitimate concerns, especially in these organisations so often used as a political football. But the stream of negativity can twist perception of the current reality, and taint how people perceive and carry out their jobs. Bottom line, it often doesn't help.
As of January I will be working full time for a church. It's a role I've been doing part time for the last year, so not a major change, but a change nonetheless.
The church too has its naysayers; there isn't enough money, we're managing decline, our old buildings are too expensive, people are not committed enough, "Miss... Richard Dawkins called me names!"... etc.
I'm guilty of this too. I can have a tendency to latch on to the negative, even embracing it sometimes. Sound familiar? But, unless this leads to positive action, we just contribute to the hand wringing.
Truth be told I'm not that negative a person and I'm sure neither are you. In reality I tend to have an attitude of 'all will be well in the end'.
So as 2011 begins, the nearest thing I'll be making to a resolution will be to avoid contributing to all of this negativity. Rather to challenge it and accentuate the positive... There's a song about that.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Belfast,United Kingdom
I was walking in the country with the wife when a guy in a tractor sped past screaming. "The end is nigh"; I was pretty shocked but my wife just looked up and said, "Oh, that's Farmer Geddon!"
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