Nearly all of us have been affected in one way or another by what has been dubbed “the Great Resignation.” Since the return to work following the lockdowns of the early pandemic, people have left their jobs in droves.
Many have wondered why, theorizing often that the federal funds added to state unemployment benefits given as a stimulus to help get us through the most trying financial times of this experience were making it more appealing to stay home than to return to our jobs.
To me, that seemed too simple an answer from the beginning. And it didn’t correspond to the realities as neatly as people wanted to believe. It turns out I was correct. As those benefits phased out, people were not returning back to their old jobs. There had to be other reasons.
My suspicion all along was that the pandemic was giving our civilization a serious “come to Jesus moment” with regard to our satisfaction and purpose. In other words, we were ‘mad as hell not going to take it anymore.’ Officially.
Our society is responding as if it has had a collective near-death experience. Mainly, because it has. And there are always certain characteristics typical to the aftermath. When faced with a life-altering situation, which usually involves facing our own mortality, often through a brush with death, our personhood fundamentally changes.
As a person who has lived through this type of experience myself, I can attest firsthand that my own near-death experience altered me in ways I could’ve never predicted before it.
All too similarly, I knew that this pandemic would, and will, alter humanity in a way none of us could ever predict. It will be darker before the dawn. I also genuinely believe that the alteration will be ultimately good. For that is typically the type of change we all make when death is around us.
My own change following my near-death experience occurred slowly. I can’t say that there was a single moment when a lightbulb suddenly went off over my head and thereafter all life for me became different. It was more of a gradual response to a singular, nearly imperceptible shift within me.
The singular change was the recognition I wouldn’t live forever; something which comes as quite a jarring truth to a 29-year-old, despite the obviousness of its universal truth. None of us will live forever. At least not in these bodies nor in these times.
But when something like this comes to the forefront of our brains, when we suddenly realize for our own sake how precious, fleeting, and rare life is, something about how we engage with the world around us foundationally changes.
It may not look like much on the surface at first. I still saw the same face in the mirror every morning. For a while. I still had the same dreams for my life. And for a while, I had the same friends. Yet these things were destined to change as well.
But two things I could no longer tolerate were a lack of clear purpose and, even more importantly, being treated without respect. Without consciously choosing it, being treated with dignity became of the utmost priority in my life. And, one by one, those things which no longer passed that test fell away. Sometimes quietly, sometimes with great conflict and drama. But always, we parted. Rarely did I ever look back.
What is it about facing our mortality that inspires such change? Facing death makes us want to live. And not just live, but thrive. When we rise from our own deathbed, figuratively or literally, there’s an opportunity to reflect that cannot occur under normal circumstances. And when we recover from it, we are forever changed.
The regrets we might have on our deathbeds are given a chance at a do-over. Life becomes even more precious. As does satisfaction, fulfillment, and dignity.
This is very good news. For this is where we all are right now. As a civilization, we are slowly, but surely, rising from our own death bed. And the world no longer looks the same as it did before. Good.
This is best indicated by the fact that it has now been shown that workplace toxicity is the number one reason why people are leaving their jobs in droves. Even to a greater degree than money, job satisfaction and being treated with dignity and respect by one’s employer is the reason for the change. Going back to school, starting a new business, finding better employment opportunities.
This is the proof to me that we are truly facing our mortality as a society. And like all near-death experiences, a better life is almost always awaits those who take what is learned to heart.
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