Stress..
In todays world, the organization you work for plays a much larger role than you think. It unconsciously becomes the tribe you belong to, your social stomping ground, extended family etc. In fact, I once envisioned a world without countries..just different fortune 500 companies warring or collaborating with each other. You would have used your identity card to enter your company, and signed the guest register to enter another company. No more passports and visas...
But after working for a corporation for the last 2 years, I realize that maybe thats a pipe dream. The stress levels in my life are all but killing me, and when I look around for a moment at friends and colleagues I see the same is true for them. So then it would seem that corporations, far from being benign harnessers of peoples productivity, are actually burning us all out in an effort to squeeze the maximum from each resource.
Granted, a fat paycheck may compensate for the stress, aggravation and loss of social life outside work, but in the end, 20 years pass and you realize you achieved nothing. Like hamsters on the corporate ferris wheel. We run and run and they give us the pellets to make us run some more...
All this came to mind because I was watching a documentary on eminent industrialist JRD Tata yesterday. He spent most of his life driving fast cars, piloting aeroplanes, travelling, making charitable gestures, but he is still remembered as one of the brightest individuals our country has produced. So how is it that he could spend his life doing exactly what he wanted, and yet rise to such great heights? How come he never got burned out or stressed out but always had a look of such peace on his face?
The answer probably lies in the fact that he lived in a different age. When you could do these things. When there was some time to breathe. But I also think it has to do with a steadfast determination on his part to make time to do the things that excited him and not get swayed from this.
So beginning now, I am going to get out of work at 7pm, go meet my friends, read books and join a gym. Thats my new resolution in honour of JRD.
4 Comments:
hi feedo,
in a way i am also going through a similar problem. i have read jrd tata's biography and one thing that was surely revealed in that book about mr tata's personality was that he never allowed himself to be ruled by circumstances. his family doctor said that he had 'zest for life'. in our young age we are energetic and raring to go but all that fades away as we grow older or should i say let ourselves grow older. jrd never allowed this to happen. even at that age of 80 he used to go for skiing in switzerland and won an award for proficiency in skiing. secondly he had no family duties to discharge, though he was married he had no children and generally used to spend long hours at his office. he had devoted his whole life to a group called 'tata's,for him he was doing service to the company and the nation. what we lack is that type of service motive and our thinking has only one denominator: money. i think you should definitely read jrds biography, the book is : 'beyond the last blue mountain- a life of jrd tata' by rusi m. lala, penguin books. i have learnt a lot from his life and try to incorporate whatever i can in my day to day life. i am sure you will enjoy and learn from the book.
alay
hi feedo,
in a way i am also going through a similar problem. i have read jrd tata's biography and one thing that was surely revealed in that book about mr tata's personality was that he never allowed himself to be ruled by circumstances. his family doctor said that he had 'zest for life'. in our young age we are energetic and raring to go but all that fades away as we grow older or should i say let ourselves grow older. jrd never allowed this to happen. even at that age of 80 he used to go for skiing in switzerland and won an award for proficiency in skiing. secondly he had no family duties to discharge, though he was married he had no children and generally used to spend long hours at his office. he had devoted his whole life to a group called 'tata's,for him he was doing service to the company and the nation. what we lack is that type of service motive and our thinking has only one denominator: money. i think you should definitely read jrds biography, the book is : 'beyond the last blue mountain- a life of jrd tata' by rusi m. lala, penguin books. i have learnt a lot from his life and try to incorporate whatever i can in my day to day life. i am sure you will enjoy and learn from the book.
alay
hi feedo,
in a way i am also going through a similar problem. i have read jrd tata's biography and one thing that was surely revealed in that book about mr tata's personality was that he never allowed himself to be ruled by circumstances. his family doctor said that he had 'zest for life'. in our young age we are energetic and raring to go but all that fades away as we grow older or should i say let ourselves grow older. jrd never allowed this to happen. even at that age of 80 he used to go for skiing in switzerland and won an award for proficiency in skiing. secondly he had no family duties to discharge, though he was married he had no children and generally used to spend long hours at his office. he had devoted his whole life to a group called 'tata's,for him he was doing service to the company and the nation. what we lack is that type of service motive and our thinking has only one denominator: money. i think you should definitely read jrds biography, the book is : 'beyond the last blue mountain- a life of jrd tata' by rusi m. lala, penguin books. i have learnt a lot from his life and try to incorporate whatever i can in my day to day life. i am sure you will enjoy and learn from the book.
alay
Hi Alay, one thing I have found about people like JRD or anyone else who is successful is that they derive satisfaction and find meaning in their own lives which flows over to the lives of all those around them including their country. And thats what distinguishes them from the billions of others who inhabit the planet going through life without a clue as to what they should be doing or feeling frustrated at the lives they have.
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