a fear of which, he believed, can blight a person�s life. Happily, much the same can be said of a career in Admin (that it makes one more accepting of death, I mean; though, come to think of it, pretty much any part of that sentence applies). But a calm acceptance of the inevitable is not the only spiritual boon to be gained from Admin jobs. Not by a long way. Believe me, spiritual enlightenment is right there, in your office, just waiting for you. It might be lying in your in-tray. It might be nestled amongst the Viagra offers in your inbox. Or most likely it�s down the back of the filing cabinet. That�s where things usually are. Bloody wonky drawer.

What?

OK, so I�m blatantly lying. Admin isn�t the path to spiritual enlightenment. Of course it�s not. At least, not for everyone. If we take a look at the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, however�

Truth No. 1: Life is suffering.
Check. Embark on any one of the myriad secretarial jobs, PA jobs, or sundry other office support roles currently available and a deep and profound understanding of the First Truth is guaranteed to follow (I find it usually take no more than three months. Or fifty paper-jams. Whichever comes first). If you�re looking for the fast-track, though, make sure to take a customer-facing role. Absolute gits, the lot of them.

Truth No. 2: The origin of suffering is attachment.
In an office job, attachment to sunlight, freedom, fresh air, the outside world, your own sanity - all the nice things in life, basically - will only bring misery. Give in to the tedium. Forget what it feels like to think, to imagine, to dream. Embrace those extra pounds you�ve put on from food being the only thing you have to look forward to between the hours of 9am and 5pm. Soon you�ll come to love that tiny unlit cubicle.

Truth No. 3: The cessation of suffering is attainable
OK, we�re going to get a little metaphysical here. I promise it won�t hurt. Quite the opposite, in fact - this is about the cessation of suffering, remember? The Second Truth advocated letting go of the outside world, letting office life become your only reality. Some of you, I realise, may have found the idea a tad dispiriting, but fear not, and here�s the metaphysical bit: office life is just an illusion. That�s right. It�s not real. How could it be? I mean, would you rather believe it�s real? Well, exactly.

Truth No. 4: The Eightfold Path to the cessation of suffering
To elaborate: Right View; Right Intention; Right Speech; Right Action; Right Livelihood; Right Effort; Right Mindfulness; and Right Concentration.

Well, that�s Right Livelihood covered; I think we�ve established at least that much. As for the others, suffice it to say: have you never wondered what exactly the point is of performance reviews and self-evaluations? Yep, that�s right: think of them as a spiritual MOT. A few reincarnations later, and before you know it you�ll be enjoying Nirvana.

So, there you have it; Admin: not soul-destroying at all.

Hardly seems possible, does it?
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Inspired by Secretarialcareers.co.uk Unknown as to why but it got me thinking.