We’re more than our jobs

The experience of Anneli Maley offers an enriching lesson for many people who regard their career as being of the utmost importance.(“Anneli flys free, HS, 6/12).

Instead of having a one-dimensional identity as an athlete, doctor, lawyer, or teacher, people should be inspired and encouraged to develop a sense of self that embodies a multidimensional approach to thwart feeling lost when that identity fails to foster happiness.

It seems many people define themselves by their work, without realising the psychological proscriptions of that definition. As a society we often ascribe, even assume, certain desirable qualities of particular careers, despite the limitations of that single identity.

Understanding how one can have a myriad of talents and/or interests beyond one all-encompassing label is undoubtedly liberating as Anneli discovered, however painfully.

Appreciating that reality should teach us all to look and feel beyond what others deem superficially significant.