Backstabbing is a common practice in the workplace regardless of the office's sizes. You just need one troublemaker to start office politicking. I've worked in many companies big and small to be used to this kind of behaviour. But still as a normal human being, I'm sure we all won't feel good about it if it ever happen to us.
It was one typical Friday morning which I was very excited about as it is the end of the week and weekend is just around the corner. My mood was good and I was full of energy. Then the company's associate asked me to retrieve an email from the inbox of my colleague who was on leave. Her Outlook inbox was so messy as she didn't categorize her emails into separate folders. So I have to search through laboriously for that one email which I didn't know who the sender was and what he might have written in the subject heading. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. But this wasn't the problem to me as I'm a relatively patient guy.
It was when I accidentally found out the emails that she sent to other two colleagues complaining about me behind my back that gave me the shock. Our office is a very quiet place as the boss doesn't like any background noise and therefore every single sound is usually audible. She was complaining about me chewing gum in the office that caused her to lose concentration. Her complaints were apparently so serious that my boss decided to switch my place to another location. This was just the tip of the iceberg, I could traced back as far as January this year on what she complained about me. Nobody ever said anything to me on this matter, I couldn't read mind and how am I supposed to know I'm making people uncomfortable?
So it could be as trivial thing as chewing gum that would cost you a bad reputation in the workplace if so happen that someone doesn't like you. So what can I do about it? Am I going to clarify this matter to my boss? No - because I'm not suppose to know this and no one has said anything to me on this. So what can I actually do? Nothing much really. When someone doesn't like you, they will try to pick up every little thing that you do wrong and amplify it to the management and there is nothing you could do to stop them because this is their nature.
Before I embrace Buddhism, I would have ruminated about how to get back at her and make sure that justice is done at the end of the day. Instead I just accepted it that these things happens and people like her do exist around us. I can't deny that it sure upset me but I managed to make peace with it eventually. Yes, it may cost me my job eventually if she keep on backstabbing me without me aware of it. However, if I focus on this thinking, I will just worsen the situation. I should instead focus on the positive knowing that now I'm equipped with this knowledge of such thing is happening behind my back. So I should be more careful next time when I chew gum in the office; I should concentrate more on my work; I should take this as a wake up call that someone is watching me; I should take this as an opportunity to improve on my work and prove otherwise.
Patience is a very important quality to have in our lives no matter what we do. The ride will be bumpy all the time but if we are patient enough and genuinely honest in what we are doing, we will see the sun rises in the horizon. The sun always rises after a long dark and cold night. The sun never gives up on us so what should we give up ourselves?
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