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My
Dream Job
My experience is about my current
dream job, incredible boss, and co-workers who feel like family. I work
at Reston Hospital Center in Virginia, a hospital that has over 1200 employees
of all different races and religions. Even with such a widely diverse group
of people, it is a place where people can feel comfortable as they are.
This is a place were people are respectful of each other’s cultures, religions,
and backgrounds. I can truly say that I have a job that feels like I am
with family everyday. I am very fortunate.
However, it has not always been this
way for me.
After I was divorced, I reentered
the work force and started working in human resources. This was about 15
years ago. I began with health care recruiting, moved to human resource
specialist, then to IT recruiting and finally back to health care as a
nurse recruiter. For many years I was a contract recruiter/HR specialist.
As a single parent, I had time restraints so contract recruiting gave me
the flexibility I needed to be with my kids when they had soccer games
or appointments. But I wanted to be a nurse recruiter. I applied for many
nurse recruiter positions, however, I was always rejected because I am
not a nurse.
I worked as a contract recruiter and
held many jobs in human resources all around the Washington DC metro area.
Many of those jobs were horrid. I did not know it at the time but each
difficult experience I encountered (while continuing to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
abundantly and going to SGI meetings to get encouragement — I had to!)
actually prepared me for my goal of becoming a nurse recruiter. As a result
of all my contract recruiting, I was able to work in many different health
care environments and gain valuable experience and training from nurses
who were working in human resources as nurse recruiters. Those nurses helped
me to develop and expand my skill set as recruiter and prepared me for
my future role as a nurse recruiter.
About five years ago I started working
at Reston Hospital Center as their nurse recruiter. My dream job.
From “Changing Poison into Medicine,”
SGI Quarterly, January, 2002 – “Buddhism in Daily Life”
“… SGI members often speak of ‘turning
poison into medicine’ when they describe how their Buddhist practice has
enabled them to transform a difficult, negative or painful situation into
something positive. … The process of changing poison into medicine begins
when we approach difficult experiences as an opportunity to reflect on
ourselves and to strengthen and develop our courage and compassion. The
more we are able to do this, the more we are able to grow in vitality and
wisdom and realize a truly expansive state of life.”
Easier said then done.
Prior to working at Reston Hospital
Center, I was out of work for a while. After 9/11 there were zero jobs
for recruiters, mostly because there were zero jobs. Many people lost their
jobs after 9/11. So I worked temp jobs — however, the money was not great.
Anyway, I moved multiple times (because my rent kept going up) and to help
pay the bills I had to sell some of my furniture including my most prize
possession, my piano.
My piano had been with me since I
was about five years old. My piano came with me wherever I moved and no
matter what town I was living in. I did not feel complete without it. Needless
to say, it broke my heart to have to sell it. This was such a difficult
time for me and I wanted to give up many times. However, I continued to
chant through these obstacles and attend SGI meetings because they were
always uplifting. And during this difficult time, my children’s father
was always right there to take care of the kids financially. I never, ever
had to worry about money for them. He is a wonderful Dad.
I was a women’s leader then. Leadership
roles in the SGI are temporary, volunteer roles. Leaders volunteer time
and energy (in other words, teach people to chant, study and visit with
members, and much more). Leaders not only take responsibility for themselves,
but for others as well. As a leader, I visited many members’ homes, chanting
and studying with them, helping them break through their obstacles. A lot
of the members were much worse off then me so it was encouraging to see
them chanting, praying so diligently, in spite of their circumstances.
My personal faith deepened as a result of those visits and made me realize
that not only was I helping them, they were helping me. Visiting members
over the years has deepened my appreciation for the SGI members and deepened
my sense of responsibility.
In the past, when I would get into
financial trouble I would usually call my family for help. They helped
me out a lot over the years, however, this time I felt like I just could
not ask them again. I was tired of constantly asking for help and I am
pretty sure they were tired of me too. So I decided to make do with what
little money I had and suck it up. I had the feeling everything was going
to be all right. I did not know how it would all work out, but I remember
chanting and thinking, “this is what I need to do right now and everything
will be okay.”
There were times I had little money
for food and utilities. Sometimes I would chant in the dark by candlelight
and without heat. And even after I started working again, the residual
effects of losing my job carried on through to the next few years. My car
broke down (right after I started working at Reston Hospital Center) and
I could not afford to fix it so I had to take the bus for about six months.
Luckily, the bus stop was right outside my door and dropped me right in
front of the hospital.
From “Changing Poison into Medicine,”
SGI Quarterly January, 2002 – “Buddhism in Daily Life”
“Buddhism teaches that suffering
derives from karma, the causes that we ourselves have created. The Buddhist
teaching of karma is one of personal responsibility. It is therefore our
responsibility to transform sufferings into value-creating experiences.
The Buddhist view of karma is not fixed or fatalistic — even the most deeply
entrenched karmic patterns can be transformed.”
So getting back to my dream job, I met
one of my colleagues at a job fair many years prior to working at Reston
Hospital. Then years later, out of the blue, she called me and said there
was an opening at Reston Hospital and would I like to interview for the
position of nurse recruiter. I was stunned! I could not believe she kept
my resume all those years and I could not believe she wanted to interview
me for the nurse recruiter position. I interviewed for the position and
started working two weeks later.
The job offer was for a full time
position, not contract. I was concerned about my children’s schedules and
about job flexibility. I explained my situation to my boss and she said
it was not a problem. She said she understood my situation and there would
be no problem accommodating me. Wow!
My financial situation has greatly
improved over the past five years since I have been at Reston Hospital
Center. I have purchased a reliable car and I moved to a beautiful condominium.
I am able to pay my bills and even save some money. I was just appointed
senior recruiter at Reston Hospital Center and elected to the board of
the Washington Metro Area Healthcare Recruiters Association. WMHRA consists
of health care and nurse recruiters from Maryland, DC, and Virginia. So
where I was once rejected as a nurse recruiter I now sit equal with other
nurse recruiters and health care professionals in the Washington DC Metro
area. What a victory!
From “Changing Poison into Medicine,”
SGI Quarterly January, 2002 – “Buddhism in Daily Life”
“By taking a difficult situation
— illness, unemployment, bereavement, betrayal — and using it as an opportunity
to deepen our sense of personal responsibility, we can gain and develop
the kind of self-knowledge from which benefit flows. Buddhism teaches that
self-knowledge ultimately is awareness of our own infinite potential, our
capacity for inner strength, wisdom and compassion. This infinite potential
is referred to as our ‘Buddha nature.’ The original meaning of the phrase
‘to turn poison into medicine’ relates to this level of self-knowledge.”
Back to the story about my piano — for
those of you who do not know me, I come from a musical family and in my
spare time I play the piano and write music and lyrics. Recently I was
asked to write a song for a fundraiser that one of my family members was
chairing — I was asked to write a song and donate it for the cause. I thought
it was kind of a strange request. I told my brother-in law that he had
greatly over estimated my songwriting ability. However, he insisted I write
the song and since my family had been so very generous to me throughout
the years, I felt like I owed it to them to write a great song. I told
my family I would write the song but only if they would consider this to
be sort of a “repayment” to them for helping me out over the years. I chanted
about it, praying for a positive outcome. I had no idea what kind of a
song I would be writing, however, I was determined the outcome would be
positive.
The song I was commissioned to write
was for a couple named Ellen and Paul who just celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary. Also, they both just turned 75 years old. Aww, so cute. So
I dusted off an old song I had written when I first started practicing
Buddhism (23 years ago), rewrote the lyrics, went into a studio (with studio
singers) and recorded it. It’s called, (cause I just don’t belong …) “Without
You”. It was the perfect song for them. The song was presented to them
over the holidays. It was a lovely moment.
Then I found out that Paul (of Ellen
and Paul) sits on the board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — this was
the reason they wanted to give him the song. I remember that the first
time I ever heard a symphony was when I was in the third grade. After that,
I always had this secret dream of composing music and having it performed
by a symphony orchestra. Writing this song for this couple who were married
for 50 years was not only an honor and a privilege, it also reawakened
that secret dream in me. What a benefit!
As a surprise, my family sent me a
gift – a new piano. I cried tears of joy. I felt complete again — I was
so happy I could hardly stand it! I told my family I would never be able
to repay them for such an incredible gift. They just said, “Peg, we just
want you to keep playing the piano and writing songs.” I cried again —
this time, tears of wonder (and joy). I have THE best family.
I have been practicing this Buddhism
for 23 years. I have THE best job and get to work with THE best people.
PLUS, I have my piano back. And best of all, I have gained inner strength
and happiness in my life — and, at the risk of sounding cliché,
inner calm and peace.
However, no one is perfect and nothing
stays the same. That is life. By continuing to chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
and practicing Nichiren Buddhism (especially when I do not feel like it)
I am able to gain that inner strength and happiness I need to advance in
a positive direction, never giving up, no matter what obstacles arise and
in spite of myself.
From “Changing Poison into Medicine,”
SGI Quarterly January, 2002 – “Buddhism in Daily Life”
“This teaching of the possibility
of profound transformation makes Buddhism a deeply optimistic philosophy.
This optimism propels Buddhists as they seek to transform the negative
and destructive tendencies within their lives as well as those in society
and the world at large.”
Peggy Goldman
SGI USA
Fairfax District
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