Wednesday, October 23, 1996

Find peace amid the turmoil

Life often seems overwhelming. Constant deadlines, ever-increasing responsibilities, things that take twice as long as you thought they would. Tempers get short and people get frantic. Is this any way to work? Is this any way to live?

The pace of work gets faster and faster. The Internet dumps pages and pages of e-mail on you each morning. The the fax machine starts churning it out, and then Federal Express arrives. How can you possibly cope? How can you get anything done in such a world?

Step back for a moment. Step back from it all, on a regular basis. Yes, it’s urgent. Yes, it’s frantic. But, in the overall context of your life, is it really that important?

You must learn to do your work, without letting your work do you. Remember, you are in control here. Your work is something you have chosen to do, for whatever reason, to add value to your life. Think of the absolute worst thing that could happen in your work, and realize that you would most likely survive it as a person. By all means accept and honor your responsibilities, just remember to keep them in perspective.

Don’t let it get to you. Especially when you are overwhelmed -- that’s when you most need to be productive and in control. Worrying and fretting are complete wastes of time. Make an effort to step back. The more at peace you are, the more produtive and creative you’ll be.

Keep things in perspective. Accept that you have a lot to do, accept that there will be problems, and then just do what needs to be done, with control and diligence. Take a deep breath, and start to plow right through it.

— Ralph Marston

Balance Feeling down? next

Copyright ©1996 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.