Digital Cowboy

The morning show I have on in the background while I work just had a “Quote of the Day.” They didn’t credit it, so I won’t either; I don’t have time to do research right now. But the quote was this:

“Not a shred of evidence exists to support the idea that life is serious.”

That was timely for me. It’s a sentiment that I not only agree with but also generally follow. Right now I’m in the middle of a minor crisis with a client’s server (thus his quite successful web-based business) and simultaneously facing a hard deadline on another project. I’ve been working all night. For that matter, I’ve been working every waking moment for days. I was stressed and feeling overwhelmed.

Hearing that quote in the background “brought me to” as my grandfather used to say. (He used to say, “Snap to!” or “Come to!” It meant, “Attention!” or “Look here now!”)

Years ago, when I was working in “operations” (that’s a stupid name for mainframe computer processing) for a few divisions of The Limited I used to get stressed. It was often a very high pressure environment and was all about schedule. It was time pressure applied to computer processing. I was making $10.25 an hour… when I left that job.

One night when things went wrong, a supervisor under stress barked at me and I replied, “Relax. It’s FASHION. The company’s selling overpriced, trendy clothes. No one’s life is on the line here.”

I got a blank stare. So I said, “What’s the worst possible thing that could happen?”

His answer? “The worst thing?!? You and I could both lose our jobs!”

“For failing to get daily financial reports delivered by 7:00 a.m.?” I foolishly answered.

“Yes! I need this job! My life’s on the line! Get it done.”

I mentally exited that job that very day, though I continued to show up for a few months after that. I vowed that I would never work in that kind of environment again. But now I’m self-employed and I do the same thing to myself far too frequently. I’m under imaginary pressure. It’s all in my head. I do it to myself.

It’s ridiculous and there’s not a shred of evidence that life is serious.

Take a break. Have a laugh. Remind yourself why you work. It’s probably not for approval. It’s a means to an end.

Don’t ignore the end because you get caught up in the means.