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September 26, 2005
They will wear you out
Someone who knows me very little made an "observation" the other day about my activities at the bike shop. He said, "They will wear you out." I joked about it with him, then kept doing what I was doing. His meaning sunk in later. He's mentioned several times to me to pace myself so I don't burn out. I think his intentions are good and he's trying to be helpful, but in this case his observations are not observations but a lack of true understanding...
First of all, let's look at the meaning of the phrase, "They will wear you out." The [wear you out] portion of the sentence is pretty obvious. He thinks that somehow this kind of work makes me tired. In truth it's energizing. The more good work I do, the more I want to do. I have my limits, true, but attitude goes much further than physical and time limitations. And I'm not trying to do it myself. This brings us to the beginning of the phrase, [They], which implies that someone else is doing this to me. This is where many people lose hope in life. They think someone else is doing something to us that we are not agreeing to. Sure it can happen with a particular boss or something, but we are still chosing to work there. In this case I AM the "They," he is referring to. Am "I" going to wear myself out? Quite possibly I will, but it's by choice because I believe it's a good use of my gifts, talents and resources to be involved in this right now, where I can make a difference in other people's lives. If it's by choice, I am not a victim. No-one else can wear me out or wear me down, because I am the They that will do it to myself. Got it?
There is more. Sometime soon I will talk about 'Chains' of events that lead to other things. Sometimes a person HAS to follow a chain of events to get to some other point in their lives. It all adds up and we are exactly where we need to be. I am where I need to be right now. How can that wear me out?
Posted by carl1236 at September 26, 2005 04:53 PM | Attitude