Xolise
At the age of 48, I suddenly became weighed down with the woes of the world and
personal dissatisfaction, which left me listless and at times anxious. I am a tenured
professor who achieved some success, but my spirit, which used to animate my career
and home life, was flickering out. My energy was low and my attitude was negative, with
a ‘why bother?’ disposition. I spent more time learning computer programmes for online
teaching and less time with students. I frequently spoke of the students as undisciplined
and bothersome — another generation that expected a lot and gave too little. Coworkers heard me say that I felt tired, dull and emotionally empty.
My free time was spent watching videos while alone. I was divorced, my children were
now grown and I spoke of myself as just another pebble in the universe. I was struggling
to find new meaning in my work after having achieved, in my opinion, moderate success
as an academic. I had set aside any aspiration of becoming a renowned scholar and after
having failed to receive support from the university administration, I stopped applying for
university-wide administrative roles. I questioned my life and work as a university professor
and I saw retirement and an empty house looming on the horizon.
I decided to speak to a trusted career counsellor about my emotional experiences.
Knowing that I had unconsciously accepted a deflated sense of the meaning in my life, the
counsellor began to help me in my search for meaning. In our conversations, I confirmed
that I had acquired extensive computer skills. The counsellor asked me a subsequent
question: ‘How might you use these computer skills to serve yourself and others?’ In
addition, the counsellor helped me to adopt a different outlook on and attitude towards my
current circumstances. We both looked at the opportunities of the present and identified
alternatives to boredom.
The counsellor prompted me with questions such as: ‘Have you considered the needs
of less computer-literate people, the importance of supporting students who need to
become excited by their education or the ways you can help your own family because of
your love for them?’
Since I had considered the students a serious burden at the beginning of my meetings
with the counsellor, a request to teach one less class relieved some frustration and provided
a space for the productive development of computer-aided teaching tools, something the
department needed and which came to be a new source of meaning in my work.
1.which line in the case study shows self- actualization