Our Needs vs Wants
In the office I work at some employees have become discontented with the amounts of bonus money they have potential to receive each month. As a manager, though one that has little to no say in the bonus money, I listened to their concerns, and then brought them up with the department head.
I discussed with him the valid points of my team's arguments, and related to him my feelings in the situation. I told him I think it is sad that the bonus should be such a point of distress to any employees. In it's definition, a bonus is something extra, not something to be disputed over in the first place. I told him my budget never includes the money I may or may not receive in a bonus. We were hired and accepted the job without the expectation of this extra money, but now that it is presenting itself as an option, suddenly everyone is all worked up about it's amount.
He told me he agrees and wishes that it wasn't something people would complain about. I told him, knowing him to be an endowed member of the LDS church and deciding to quote a lesson taught in the temple, that it is important to me to realize that we have "sufficient for our needs". He smiled and agreed.
A few minutes later, I got an email from him while sitting at my desk saying, "they may have sufficient for their needs, but not sufficient for their wants."
I find it unlikely that he would know the impact of that message on me. The familiar argument of what is a need versus what is a want has been discussed for ages. Prioritizing is so very important. I had the hardest time sympathizing with my team after that. There was no way for me to know if they needed that bonus money for needs or wants.
In General Conference, Elder Holland gave a talk based on the Saviors parable of the workers in the vineyard that were hired at the 11th hour. He mentioned that as an employer, the Lord of the vineyard had every right to pay his employees what he would, according to the individual agreements he made with them. The frustrating and ungrateful feelings that resonated so recently seemed to pop up in my mind. Elder Holland was not speaking of true employment. He was teaching about the salvation available to all of God's children regardless of the hour they come to Him. And yet I feel that the Lord was teaching me several lessons at once. It is not right for us to brag or complain about the agreements we have personally with the Lord, or our employers. It is not our place. Our calling as disciples on this Earth is to provide the most possible blessing for others. To be a tool for the Lord in helping His children return to Him. As a paralegal in a firm, it is my obligation under the agreement made when I was hired to assist our clients to receive their due benefits. There was no agreement that I would get paid the same as others in the firm. There was no agreement that I would be offered the same potential bonus as others. The agreement was that I would work, and I would be paid a wage. To dispute that would be ungrateful, and short sighted.
I am thankful for the Lord who provides such powerful and direct council. I am thankful that He gives me council so near in time to my problems.
I discussed with him the valid points of my team's arguments, and related to him my feelings in the situation. I told him I think it is sad that the bonus should be such a point of distress to any employees. In it's definition, a bonus is something extra, not something to be disputed over in the first place. I told him my budget never includes the money I may or may not receive in a bonus. We were hired and accepted the job without the expectation of this extra money, but now that it is presenting itself as an option, suddenly everyone is all worked up about it's amount.
He told me he agrees and wishes that it wasn't something people would complain about. I told him, knowing him to be an endowed member of the LDS church and deciding to quote a lesson taught in the temple, that it is important to me to realize that we have "sufficient for our needs". He smiled and agreed.
A few minutes later, I got an email from him while sitting at my desk saying, "they may have sufficient for their needs, but not sufficient for their wants."
I find it unlikely that he would know the impact of that message on me. The familiar argument of what is a need versus what is a want has been discussed for ages. Prioritizing is so very important. I had the hardest time sympathizing with my team after that. There was no way for me to know if they needed that bonus money for needs or wants.
In General Conference, Elder Holland gave a talk based on the Saviors parable of the workers in the vineyard that were hired at the 11th hour. He mentioned that as an employer, the Lord of the vineyard had every right to pay his employees what he would, according to the individual agreements he made with them. The frustrating and ungrateful feelings that resonated so recently seemed to pop up in my mind. Elder Holland was not speaking of true employment. He was teaching about the salvation available to all of God's children regardless of the hour they come to Him. And yet I feel that the Lord was teaching me several lessons at once. It is not right for us to brag or complain about the agreements we have personally with the Lord, or our employers. It is not our place. Our calling as disciples on this Earth is to provide the most possible blessing for others. To be a tool for the Lord in helping His children return to Him. As a paralegal in a firm, it is my obligation under the agreement made when I was hired to assist our clients to receive their due benefits. There was no agreement that I would get paid the same as others in the firm. There was no agreement that I would be offered the same potential bonus as others. The agreement was that I would work, and I would be paid a wage. To dispute that would be ungrateful, and short sighted.
I am thankful for the Lord who provides such powerful and direct council. I am thankful that He gives me council so near in time to my problems.
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