SEE YOURSELF, APPROVE OF YOURSELF & DON'T HARDEN YOUR HEART (A short story by Jazz)

Rachel was frustrated with her current job. She loved property management but this particular property did not offer the upward mobility she was promised in the beginning. All of her hard work & devotion was being undermined or totally disregarded.

She was tired of working long hours and never receiving the credit she felt she deserved. She sacrificed a lot of relationships and time to herself to grow within a very promising & upcoming company. Rachel didn't realize she had value way before she could talk. She allowed her wordly desires to determine how valuable she really was. We have to remember that no matter where we are in this world, we had purpose in our mother's stomach. We had purpose before our parent's were even thought of. That's how valuable we were.

After being burned by office politics, Rachel began her quest for a new opportunity.

While she awaited her next opportunity, she heard back from another property. She was excited and agreed to meet the Chief to discuss a possible future. Rachel was confident she would get the role as the interview went very well. She got the offer right away and began fantasizing about all of the possibilities the company had to offer.

She arrived an hour early on her first day to give a good impression. She was also very excited and wanted to dive right into the very industry that she loved. She received a warm greeting and was sure she would thrive with the company. What Rachel didn't know was that she would be faced with the very thing she ran from. Until we face our fears, we will always be met with the same adversity. After being at the new property for a few days, she immediately notices that she is dealing with the same extreme level of office politics she couldn't fathom at the last opportunity.

Rachel decides to play it safe and mentally prepare herself to appear as an apprentice until her desires are met. She begins to see that her hard work is not enough. Even after being modest about her gifts & downplaying her talents, people are still threatened by her very presence...why? People can tell when someone powerful has entered the room. It is the presence & the aura of the person that screams victory & champion. This is frustration to a person who may not be operating on that same frequency. Leaders for the most part don't have to try to hard to be received and people who aren't as secure within themselves battle with just that.

She is encouraged to "Play the game" which at this property means defying everything she believes in (morals, integrity hard work, dedication, a system of ethics). She encounters the infamous property manager who is known for her nastiness & hostility. The property manager has the ability to really make "life easier" for Rachel if Rachel is willing to "Conform". When you conform, you agree to the terms. Whether it be positive or negative. If you agree to a negative environment, you can expect negativity to come your way. If you agree to positivity, you can expect greatness to come your way.

Rachel is obviously not willing to denounce who she is to appease the property manager and the property manager is severely offended. The Property Manager is obviously someone who had to hurt & hinder people to get ahead. She is obviously someone who takes pride in seeing the downfall of another. So the fact that Rachel is seemingly too good to "play along", this sends out a major red target on Rachel as she is clearly not one of them.

Rachel is subjected to constant work place harrassment. Dealing with sexual remarks being made about her body, slander etc. Rachel decides she will no longer take abuse from those type of personalities and decides to give the hostile manager the opposite of what she is looking for. Rachel refused to entertain her. It is important WE IGNORE NEGATIVITY. Get over your ego and wanting to have the last say or rebuttal.

For every evil remark, Rachel decided to smile and maintain her peace. This pained the property manager & many others under her influence more than having a negative rebuttal. Finally, The team had had enough of Rachel protesting for what was right and trying to bring peace & togetherness at the job. They had conspired against her. Rachel stood her ground and went to a corporate meeting where she was berated and mocked for sharing her experience of a "Hostile Work Environment". Although she had been harassed, sexually assaulted on the job & more, they refuted her claims.

Rachel was discouraged. She was hurt & wanted to back down until she came home & consulted with "wise counsel". Wise counsel advised her to pray and embrace herself for a fight. There will always be a fight when you come up against evil. Rachel had to prepare because she was about to challenge something that hadn't been challenged before.

She was slandered, mocked & ridiculed. People did not want to believe her because everyone was comfortable in the chaos. Finally, She went to a revival and received approval from God to leave where she was. The company was so enraged she went to corporate and decided to leave that they did not allow her to finish out her 2 weeks. Shortly after, A new opportunity came through.

The opportunity offered more money and was a perfect fit. The very people who had given her grief at her last job had succumbed to a chain of unfortunate events. The Property Manager was demoted. The Assistant who slandered her was fired & her immediate supervisor came under extreme scrutiny. While Rachel was deeply affected by their actions, her heart went out to them. Rachel fully understood they didn't know all of what they were doing because they could not see past themselves.

Why? Because while we as a people may be in pain because of what others have done to us, we owe it to ourselves to forgive them & OURSELVES. We must go on! We have to guard our hearts. We have to have compassion. Yes, Rachel endured a lot in a simple quest to gain stability and mobility. However, nothing in this world that is worth something will ever come easy. Especially when evil forces govern this world. When we are gifted with opportunity, platform & leadership, we are being entrusted to execute these missions in a ETHICAL MANNER. The second we are not, it will be taken away.

Not every person in this world has climbed the ladder of success unscathed. Therefore, we have a lot of scorned people that insist on hurting others simply because they were hurt or disadvantaged themselves. Most people aren't like Rachel and may allow their anger to enrage them beyond measure that they miss the lesson & repeat the cycle.

In order to successfully conquer negativity, one must study, understand it &challenge yourself against it and take all caution to elevate beyond toxicity.

THOUGHTS?