Stretched

I'm quite enjoying the sensation of being quite stretched at work since I still feel just about in control and unlikely to snap. The fact that we'll get a few days off in the week ahead for Chinese New Year is the reason that I'm optimistic regarding my resilience (though one unexpected 'issue' on Monday or Tuesday and the world is likely to hear the twang.)

But I can't help but think of colleagues who are, no doubt, as taxed as I, if not more so, and who are showing signs of feeling under the weather health-wise. I counted (in a manner of speaking) three or four sore throats over the weekend not to mention one or two other manifestations of less than optimal well-being. Yet the world of work (I include ways of earning a living of all varieties) seems to assume optimal health as a given on behalf of its all too human instruments. This is not sensible, to the point of being downright dangerous.

One interesting piece of advice for super high achievers: it's very useful to experience a break, one that comes with a resounding twang. I wouldn't say it necessarily makes you stronger, though that is possible, but it certainly makes you humbler, and as Eliot (Tom) observed: humility is endless. (I hope I got that right. I think it's somewhere in The Four Quartets. It'll certainly be humbling if I'm wrong.)