Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Sometimes we simply try too hard when applying what we already know in small doses suffices.

It happened again the other day at work…

I needed to know something that I didn’t know. I rushed about frantically screaming to the moon, which is hard to do in the middle of a sunny day, for information. All I had to do was wait for someone to finish a task, wait a whole 15 minutes, and ask them. Instead, I racked my brains for an answer and shot my blood pressure up through the ceiling. I was trying really hard.

I see this all the time in others. I suspect I do it much too often as why would I be special. And on top of the average stuff, I know better. So what?

We want to do well. We try, we try, we try. We go the extra mile. Note that phrase and the word “extra.” Extra isn’t needed. Giving 110% isn’t needed. Those things are ego boosters. I pump out my puny chest and shout to the world, “Look how special I am! I work harder than the rest of you! Give me a blue ribbon!”

Stop. Breathe. Think. Do the simple things. Don’t try too hard. In my experience, life and work are better that way. The persons around me are happier, too.