By a Chinese practitioner living in the West　　

　　I work as a technician in charge of productivity in a small company. In order to squeeze out more time, I increased my efficiency and tried to finish my work while still guaranteeing quality, so that I could spend all my remaining time participating in activities to help end the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In recent years, there have been many such activities, and there are often urgent events that require me to take temporary leave from work. he whole year had been like this without any problems until recently. It was Orientation Day, in which different community associations promote their own culture. Of course, Falun Dafa practitioners also wanted to participate in the event. There was nobody at work who could replace me, but fortunately, there were enough practitioners to attend the event. Therefore, I was considerate of the company and decided not to attend this activity. Yet there was very little to do at work that day, and I finished before half the day was over. During lunch hour, I sat at my desk and a thought came into my mind: “Why not leave now?” I then emailed my deputy manager to request half a day of leave, and hastily let before she returned from lunch.　　　

　　When I returned to work the following day, the deputy manager said to me, "According to your contract,　you should stay in the office for 8 hours a day. According to company rules, you need to give two weeks notice before taking leave. Your behavior has violated your contract and the company is very unhappy about it! he company has no interest in keeping such an employee." Our deputy manager is a strong woman at work. A few months after she joined our company, our department manager resigned due to conflicts with her. She complained that the department manager was not productive enough. Thereafter, I became the only worker in the department.　　

　　Prior to practicing Falun Dafa, I was a hotheaded person. Unfortunately, I did not change much after I practiced. I had always thought that the company should reward me for doing the work of two people on my own. I had already been considerate of the company in not taking the whole day off. Furthermore, I had already finished my duties for the day. Why wasn't I allowed to take half a day off? Therefore, I told the deputy manager, "You should look at the company records. I have finished in one day what other employees take two days to do. My efficiency should win me some flexibility in work hours. What happened yesterday was an exceptional case, so why should you take it so seriously?" She said, "After you finish your own work, you could help others with their work. While you are at work, all your time must be devoted to work-related duties; otherwise you have breached your contract." Since she put such strong emphasis on the matter of working hours, while I was talking about efficiency, it was impossible for us to come to an agreement. Because of this, I suggested consulting the manager.　　　

　　The next morning, the manager said to me that as a rapidly growing company, it was necessary to have strict requirements for management purposes. Every employee needed to abide by certain rules. Of course, on the other hand, the company is very respectful of employees' interests and habits. Take Falun Gong, for example: He said, “The company is very supportive of Falun Gong, yet it is not right for you to violate the company rules so often.” I asked if the company could list my violations of punctuality. "You can't,” I said. “I have been in the company for over a year now, and all you can remember are just three or four exceptional cases. Why do other people have flexible work hours, whereas even when I have finished my duties, I am still not allowed to enjoy any flexibility in my hours?"　　

　　It felt as though we had reached an impasse, and I could feel a strong field between us that would not allow us to come together.　　　

　　I calmed down and took a few deep breaths, which allowed my mind to become more aware. I told myself, I am a practitioner, and Master Li has taught us to be good employees at work. What is wrong with me today? If other people are trying to find fault in me, there must be something I have missed as a practitioner. We should look inside under all circumstances; this is the fundamental difference between a practitioner and an everyday person. All the employees in our company are actually supportive of Dafa, and no one complains if I browse the Clearwisdom website every day. Before, our deputy manager had never accused me. What was the reason today?　　　

　　Master Li's words suddenly came into my mind. We should consider others more under all circumstances. As Chinese practitioners living in the West, we should respect the habits of Westerners and the way they like to deal with things. For example, Chinese people would think it is not a big deal whether or not we hold the door for others; everyone can open their own door when they need to. Yet Westerners take this as a sign of good manners and respect for others. I suddenly understood where the problem was: the deputy manager was angry because I did not inform her early enough before I let work. I did not respect her in this sense. I acted first and reported afterwards, which hurt her pride.　　

　　I apologized to her sincerely, and explained the different customs and habits between the East and West. I also promised to ask for her permission before doing something like that in the future. I also explained to her the purpose of our activities and that time is very urgent at this point. I stressed again that I had increased my efficiency but I did not expect any monetary returns; all I would like is to win some spare time to do Dafa work. Soon, I could feel an obvious change in the atmosphere. The deputy manager's attitude had softened a lot. At last the manager said to me with a smile, "You won this time. Go and have your contract rewritten, to allow you some flexibility in your hours. I believe you will do your work well."　　　

　　Not only did I not expect the conflict to be resolved so quickly, but I had also won the right to do Dafa work openly. Thinking back on this little story, I came to a clearer understanding of why it is important for us to act according to a cultivator's standard.　　　

　　On the other hand, it is certainly necessary for those practitioners who do not have a flexible work schedule to treat their employer correctly and spend their work hours on their work. We should be considerate of others and earn people’s respect everywhere we go.