Thirteen cents

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by dM, CEO on February 13, 2010 at 3:33pm

Angie:

Thank you for sharing your experience here. I know you don't have much time to read a long reply, so I will try to keep it very short. You may also be encouraged by this video.

A Job Is A Job

It is good to have a job, but at the end of the day, it's a job. It is temporary, lasting only as long as the employer has a need for the tasks you perform to be performed by a human being, and as long as s/he is able to pay you to perform the tasks. If you miss work, you don't get paid. If your pay check bounces, you don't go to work until they pay you (I hope!!). It's a relationship that is completely contingent on things that you do not control.

I am not knocking jobs. Receiving payment for an honest day of work is an honorable thing. But not all employer's act honorably and pay you an honest wage for that work. When that happens, there is an imbalance of power that is not acceptable.

I don't know your situation. Maybe you got a small raise because you were already over-paid. Maybe you have 100% of your medical benefits paid (a very big deal these days). Maybe you also get a commission. Maybe not. Maybe you are doing the work of 3 people for the salary of one person.

You Have Choices

But no matter what you get or don't get, the bottom line is that you have a choice to make. You can find a new job, supplement your income with your own business or a part-time job or keep working where you are.

I know these options may seem awful, but it is what it is.

The good news is that you do have choices. I don't know what they are because I don't know your personal circumstances. Whatever they are, they may make your choices harder or easier. But you do have choices.

Your Value Has Nothing To Do With Your Salary

One more thing. Please don't let your boss cause you to think that your salary has anything to do with your worth. It does not. It's simply the dollar value that your employer places on the job s/he has hired you to do. It has nothing to do with you personally. Please remember that.

Your value is far beyond gold. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You were created in the image of the creator. Your worth has nothing to do with a pay check and everything to do with who you were created to be and the talents and gifts you alone were given.

If you are not being treated fairly, you have choices. The only question is whether or not you will exercise any of them.

I wish you all the best in your journey, and please consider this a place where you can receive honest encouragement and understanding.

I hope this reply is a part of that. You may also be encouraged by this video.

dM
PS: You can take the Indie Pledge even before you have a business! If you are devoted to the principles stated there and willing to work to honor them, you can take the pledge anytime!

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Permalink Reply by Angie on February 13, 2010 at 8:19pm

Thank you Donna Marie

Words are powerful. I needed a lift out of my depression. That's why I like this site your words inspire me. I am still in a funk but I'm beginning to see the light. Thanks for caring.

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Permalink Reply by IBN Member Charlene Sevier on February 15, 2010 at 4:14pm

Thirteen cents - wow. I can understand how you feel after working so hard at your job. My feeling is that the amount had to do with other factors - the financial health of your company, the decision-making process your boss may have been told they had to use, who knows? What I know is true is this - your value as a human being has worth beyond definition, beyond words, beyond dollars and cents.

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Permalink Reply by Angie on February 18, 2010 at 12:17am

Thank you for your kind words, and you are so right. I took a few days to spend with family and friends and that did me a world of goods. I have some decisions to make and what that job did was serve to add fuel to my fire. Best of luck to you and your business.

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