greener pastures

I am losing a colleague this week. He is moving on to greener pastures. I have known for some time that he might leave and it is strange to finally confront this fact.

This person was here when I got here and has been here for a long time. 10 years I guess. He has seen much over his tenure and I have attempted to download this knowledge to the best of my ability.

He has made comments this week that have troubled me, and that is why his leaving has left me with a strange taste in my mouth. He said that while looking for a job he realized that the employment opportunities were plentiful. He said that if you needed a job, that they were everywhere. What is troubling me is that he seems to simply consider this profession “just a job”, a simple set of skillsets learned that could be applied “anywhere”. while that logic is true to the most extent it seems to ignore the fact that this “job” is so much more than that, (at least in my mind). To put in 10 years at a place and realize, in his mind, that we are supplantable “anywhere” gives me great pause.

I then think about the way I do business. In my mind, every day is an opportunity to connect with the very core of human existence. It is the gift that has been bestowed upon me. It is my duty to care. I simply have an unspoken contract with this entire community that I will be here for them. I will serve them in their time of need. It is my destiny.
This, of course, is not something that I will say will stay the same throughout my life. Life must change and evolve in order to grow. This growth, however, must not be at the expense of the investment and knowledge gained before it. Growth should also never come at the expense of an unwillingness to start over. If the foundation itself is flawed, there is no reason to attempt to build upon it. The house will simply fall again.

OBI-WAN : I have a bad feeling about this.
QUI-GON : I don't sense anything.
OBI-WAN : It's not about the mission, Master, it's something...elsewhere...elusive.
QUI-GON : Don't center on your anxiety, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now where it belongs.
OBI-WAN : Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future...
QUI-GON : .....but not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the living Force, my young Padawan.