67.0 Don’t Let Anything Crash The Peace Of Your Mind. The Guidance To Protect! Stay Safe...

I've been continuing the posts about my amazing (horrible) career journey. But I wanted to come up with this topic because of the bad situation that we are currently facing. You all know that. COVID-19! CORONA! I think it is a suitable topic to discuss as there are many points to share with you all. For the moment all of you know how to avoid it and what are the actions you need to take.

How to wash your hands? How to use Sanitizers? How to maintain social distance, etc…? But do you think about the status of your mind? Are you aware of your thoughts? Is it a mess now? If so, why? I think that is one of the most important things in this situation that we should take care of. It is important to think about your Mind!

How do we prepare our minds to face any situation? However, it is not a skill that you can develop instantly. But still, we are not late. I think we all should start practicing it from this moment onwards. I'm not telling you that I'm a genius. But I'm happy for my mind even though I'm also practicing its skill. At least, I know when a bad thought comes to my mind. I think anger is the main thing. But with this awareness, you can turn it into merits too. That is the benefit. 

However, this Dhamma belongs to the universal truth called Buddhism. It does not depend on your nationality or religion, as it is a universal truth. So, if you wish to think about it further, then you can visit many Dhamma preaching. I learned that valuable truth via the sermons of Ven Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thero. You can search it via "Maha Sinha Nadaya, Ven Thiththagalle Anandasiri Thero". So, it is an additional point. One day you will understand that your bad thoughts are your enemy, and it is the only war that you need to defeat.

As you know, the imbalance between the expectation and the actual current situation is the reason for many mental diseases. We give many names such as stress, anxiety, depression, etc... Those are certain situations that happen according to the amount of that gap. As an example, think about a moment that you get angry with somebody. 

I also had such many situations. Even at this moment also I cannot get rid of it fully. But the way I think about it and face it is the difference I made. So, according to that example, we are getting angry because of that gap. What happens if we can avoid that gap? It is called acceptance. If you can accept the current situation, then there is no gap between your expectations and the current actual situation.

You should try to start with little things. Try to accept the current behaviors of your family members and tell them the correct way by removing that gap in your mind. What is the gap I’m talking about? The gap between the expectation and the actual situation. If you cannot keep them on the correct track, then you change the style of your thinking pattern. Can you change your attitudes or qualities as per your wish? Though you want to do, can you change yourself easily? No, right? You can change your appearance as per your wish. But is it easy to change your inner thoughts? No. It is not. So, if you cannot change yourself, then how can you change others? Thinking in that way is one method. 

The other thing is, you know that all of us have different thinking patterns, appearances, behaviors, qualities, and all have done according to a previous schedule. We were the ones who prepared that plan and schedule in our previous lives in this never-ending cycle of births and rebirths. So, all of us are working accordingly and now we are preparing the schedules of our next lives via our current actions. Therefore, do you believe that you can change someone's schedule? Yes. You can. But up to some extent. So, always think about the peaceful status of your mind. Don't let anybody or anything to crash it.

You might think that how do these points help on this topic. You know that we cannot face an exam, function, wedding, or anything without preparation. The people who are at the top of a particular field have come to those levels via their sacrifices and relevant practices. You can become the genius of something according to the things you have practiced most. 

So, the mind is also like that. It behaves according to our thinking pattern. Therefore, the situation that we are facing now also not a one we expected. It is not our expectation. But it is the current situation. So, that is why I wanted to discuss a bit about that mental gap via the previous paragraph. I added this point to avoid your feeling if you feel it is not required for this topic.

If you can analyze the statistics of deaths in previous years due to diseases, then you will identify one thing. It is the sickness. It is one common thing that every being has to face along with their birth. So, birth, sickness, and death are common to every one of us.

It does not depend on anything. You will be a rich person. But you will be helpless like a beggar in front of death when you got to know that you don't have medicines to buy. So, we should aware of these truths well and we should develop our minds accordingly. As humans, our mind is the great gift we received to perceive this truth. If you can face any horrible situation without worrying, then you are a great hero. 

So, all of us will start removing anger and cravings from our minds. We try to keep it pure without spoiling it. To do that I believe acceptance is the best practice. Take care of yourself and others. Do whatever that requires to get rid of this matter. Adhere to the guidance of health experts. Don't break the medical and disciplinary rules to show that you are not afraid of your death. Please don't be an idiot. Meanwhile, be conscious of your thoughts. Treat your mind well, and take care of it. There is a way to end all this cycle. But for the moment, we should face this situation as humans who have developed mindsets. Be Relax! May Triple Gems Bless You! Stay Safe! Take Care!

#blog #blogging #covid19 #corona #mind #buddhism #peace #relax #cravings #anger #dhamma #universaltruth #truth #mahasinhanadaya #depression #stress #expectation #acceptance

66.0 A Lovely Gift For IT Guys. Oh Sorry... IT Professionals! The Start Of A Fantastic Career Journey. Lol...

With the completion of my higher studies, I wanted to move to my desired field. Though there were related opportunities, I wanted to start my career as a Software Developer. It was my dream. So, I was waiting for that opportunity by ignoring some other vacancies. Though I completed projects with coding for my studies, the employers were looking for employees with some more experiences.

Though my friends said that it is a tough and stressful job for a girl, I wanted that career path. They pointed out the struggle that their development team is putting on to convince me. But you know. I wanted that path. So, one of our senior colleagues asked me to develop a small project as the credentials to show, and I did it for an inventory control system. It was an addition to the coded projects I did for higher studies. So, it was the beginning I expected, and I was ready to accept my dream path even for any payment.

I could keep the first step in my career path as a Trainee VB.Net Programmer. After an induction program, they assigned us to teams under seniors. I started working on commercial projects, and it was a great feeling for me. However, it was not like the inventory system I developed by myself, and there were many coding rules to adopt. However, I could not continue that job for more than one year, and I moved to another place. It was a small organization, and there were very few employees. We met clients, gathered business requirements, develop the system, and test the system before handing over it to the clients.

So, it was the job of an all-rounder. However, job retention was very less, and most of the employees resigned after a few months. The rest of the team had to get the responsibility of their pending work. When I had to face it, I had to fix the issues that clients have communicated without studying the system’s code even. It was a horrible problem for all of us. Sometimes, it is not possible at all when it comes to fixing something that developed with a mess-up code without best practices.

So, in such a situation, our management asked me to visit the client's place and fix all the problems. She also came with me. When we moved there, there was a group of people to communicate their issues. So, now I'm going to touch someone's pending work to fix the problem. They served tea and snacks. They also sat with me to check the status of the issues. From time to time they asked the status of the issues. Though I wanted to tell them that "shut up... I'm not a machine, and this is not like a product that you can buy from a shop", I kindly requested more time to fix the issues. Meantime, they did not forget to discuss new requirements and root causes for the problems too. “I’m bearing up their burden, men……”. Lol... So, it was uncomfortable like hell, and I could not focus on the trouble.

After facing similar issues, I understood its difficulty and thought to change my career field. One of my colleagues also changed the career track, and it was the end for her too. In that company, there was one colleague, and he used to keep the phone receiver away when someone was communicating their system issues. As it is not a good thing to do, we asked him to listen to them. But he did not like to hear even their voice because of the tension they gave at the client's places. It was such an experience. So, I could say that it was the end of one of my dreams. Lol...

Software Testing! It was my destiny. Who knows? If I knew that, then I would start my career as a Tester without struggling as a developer. As it has been dragging for over 12 years, there are many memories. I could join a workplace I loved the most, and joining with them was my second career dream. Lol... I can remember the way I felt sad when I missed the first opportunity. But, later on, I could fulfill my dream. Therefore, the first day was an enjoyable moment like nothing. I enjoyed it a lot with other newcomers who had the same craziness. Some of them are still working at that company. I think they are their fixed assets. Lol...

We joyfully completed the induction programs also and moved to work. I could say that it was another chapter of my life. The life had stuck with "Testing". But the friends and that culture were some motivation factors. So, the workload was not a problem for a couple of years, and "work till the late night was not a problem at all. Lol...

Though it was an enjoyable time, that schedule was not bearable for all the time.  Some colleagues could have free time after finishing one project. But it was only five days for me for the entire five years. When I was working for European projects, I had to work for their time zones too. When the systems are going live, our heartbeats were started increasing a couple of days before the live day. If there was a major issue that we could not find out after going live, then it was the end of the job. One incident could spoil all the good jobs done. So, nobody wanted to get that black mark for their software modules. So, it was a stressful situation. Some of our colleagues went to religious places before go-live and asked for support because of this situation. Though it made us laugh for days, they did as so because of the afraid they had to face such situations.

Therefore, that job and the modules were attached to our personal lives. I think that's why some of our fellows were taking the support of religious places also. They took the project's issues as their problems. Most of our colleagues took their responsibility and they put the maximum effort. I think, that culture created such a bond between employee and job. Most of the colleagues did not check the time when they were working on their tasks. They wanted to finish it somehow and do the needful. I could say that work exposure could change our normal lifestyle.

#blog #blogging #gift #it #professionals #career #jobs #journey #computer #studies #software #development #softwaretesting #testing #qualityassuance #qa #organization #employee #bugs #defects #clients #destiny

65.0 Jobs! Are You A Successful Employee? All The Best...

Jobs!

• What do you know about jobs?

• What don't you know about jobs?

• Are you a successful employee at your company?

• Are you fed up with your job?

• Do you like your office colleagues?

• Are they jealousy about you?

• Do your colleagues let you go up on your career ladder?

• Can you manage your colleagues without hurting their feelings?

• Did they take your blames personally?

• Are you working in the field you expected?

• Does the salary is enough for you?

• Have you requested more?

• Did you remind your next promotion to them?

• How was the last performance appraisal meeting?

• Can you handle the workload within the deadline?

• Is it a reasonable one?

• Do you need more resources?

• Don't they want to hire anymore?

• Can you manage the workload of two people as a genius?

• Can you resolve any critical matter with minimum supervision?

• Have you checked any more opportunities this week?

• How about your last interview? Can you go through it?

• Are you passing your maximum stress level?

• What will happen on next morning?

Huh... Lol... When I'm starting this topic, these are some questions that came to mind by typing that word J….O….B….S! However, some of the questions that I have mentioned above are no longer available on my plate? Instead of those, there are new things? As I was a 9 - 6 employee, those were some firing questions I had before, and I think that most of you also face these matters if you are stuck in someone's office as such an employee. However, by proving Lord Buddha's Dhamma; "If you love 100 things, then you have 100 pains". Basically, if you love something, then it brings you pain. It is a universal truth, and the job has also belonged to this rule, as we have to love it. It is the income method of us. So, it is a thing that gives us the pain too. 

The time I spent as a job seeker was hectic. It was an interview era. In that era, I wanted to find a job near our home town. As IT job opportunities are limited to Colombo, I could not find my desired job. So, I started my career as an IT lecturer. Though the designation was given as a Lecturer, I got a small payment. 

However, I started it for my career exposure. I had to conduct lectures in the classrooms by helping them in the labs as an instructor too. So, it was not an easy job. I could say that the owners took the energy of young girls by allocating the maximum workload. There were many girls, and all had that tight schedule. However, it was a fun era, and sometimes we had to face for the incidents that we did as students in the past. When I was writing something on the board, some started laughing. When I was looking at them, they hid their laughter hardly. One day a boy came up with a question, and I did not know the answer. 

So, I gave an answer that can support the question. As he did not satisfy the answer, I asked him to remind it in the next week. So, I thought to find out the answer when I'm going to the next class. However, I forgot about it and had to face the same situation in the next class. But that guy followed up and asked again. I can remember how did I embarrass. That gang also wanted to defeat the teacher, and it happened. Still, I can remember the winning smile had on his face when I was embarrassed. Lol... 

When we were studying for the Advance level exam, I also did the same for a person who conducted a group class. On that day, we gave a difficult Math question to him, and he could not resolve it soon. When he was taking the time, I can remember how did he get sweat when we were happily watching that moment. However, he could do it by taking the time, even though I could not manage this situation at all. So, I think this incident was a return for me. It is a Karmically return. Lol… 

However, that era was a nice time as I did not stick to a computer only. I could involve different types of people. My colleagues and students had different personalities. So, it was a new experience for me. It was not like involving with a bunch of friends. It was a different thing. One day our management informed us that some seniors who were working in the government sector want to do the computer course. They said that they wanted some sessions in the lab. Not the theory sessions. 

So, they allocated me and another colleague for this job. So, we arranged special materials according to their requirements. When they came, again, they reminded their requirement. Some of them asked about our qualifications. Some felt shy to learn from us, as we look like their children. So, they pointed out many reasons for the requirement of that computer course.

As usual, we introduced the contents of the course. When we were doing it some of them did not look at us even, and they did not care about the things we said. So, it was an uncomfortable situation for us too. Because of their behavior, we could not teach the things and ask questions to verify their understanding as we did for others. So, we assumed that they got the point. He he he.... 

Therefore, the sessions we conducted at the lab were horrible. Some of them could not manage the computer mouse even, though they gave big talks before. So, it made them embarrassed like nothing. However, some caught up the things well and went forward. That gang did not like to listen to their colleagues also. They thought that it was not good for their image. However, they came for a few weeks and stopped suddenly. It was a great relief for us too.  Lol...

So, guys, this is one page of my career, and there are many to tell. I think I can write a few posts regarding this topic. Wait... I will come up with some remarkable memories. You can enjoy it and learn!

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