No-Nonsense Chayaisms-Work..Worry

Work:

Voltaire said that work keeps a person away from 3 maladies – vices, boredom, and poverty. Work is the only activity which you can engage in for over 8 hours and not feel bored! Actually, working is more fun than having fun. It depends on your attitude to it. If you work because you have to and have no interest in what you are doing, you are going to be miserable. But if you develop either a commitment or a liking for the work you are doing, the satisfaction you get beats the strain. What is important is sincerity. I enjoy my work whether it is cooking or writing or speaking or cleaning – I do it with the larger picture in view. Having worked for over three decades in different fields like teaching, advertising, Public relations and journalism, I have found that most people bring to the workplace a lot of negative baggage. This results in interpersonal problems which translate to frustrations and depression. The joy of working lies in ones attitude to ones assigned duties. Either you do it with fervor or quit. Either you enjoy it or stop cribbing. On the other hand you have workaholics who think they are indispensable and mess up their personal life. Work becomes interesting when you bring to it your own ideas and you are willing to accept responsibilities for tasks outside your scope of work. Going that extra mile gives you the fun you are looking for in work. Being pro-active, taking the imitative to do things without being told and having a positive attitude all these are the hall marks of a satisfying work life. I have fun working even without an honorarium, as Trustee of Guild of Women Achievers...NGO I founded in 1996

            Worry:

A sure way to get ulcer is to worry (hurry and hot curry can make it worse!). Why do we worry?  I guess it is because we take ourselves too seriously. We believe that we make things happen and if we don’t, the world will come to an end. Actually, it is simple. You can either do something about a problem or you cannot. If you can, then do it. If you cannot, then there is nothing much you can do, so why worry? During exams, it is a better idea to study than worry about results. If you are out of a job, it makes more sense to scour appointment pages to try and find one than worry. If you want more money, it is time to work harder and earn it rather than worry. If you cannot afford something, it is wise to do without it than worry. As human beings, we all have problems either self created or contributed by others. Worrying about them only multiplies the stress. Looking the problem in the eye and finding the most viable solution is a better way of handling it. Using your brain power to find solutions rather than drain it by worrying, seems a sensible strategy. So, stop worrying start living.