September 16, 2007
This e-mail came to me recently. I
thought it was helpful enough to share.
Helen Keller said, "The world is full of
suffering. It is also full of the
overcoming of suffering. She was right.
There are signs of stress and suffering
everywhere. Certainly there is stress in our
education system. As Sam Ewing noted in The
Wall Street Journal, "The president says
that American kids are entitled to the best
education in the world. But, let's face it,
how many of us can afford to send our
children to a foreign country?"
There's stress in the way money is handled.
Too many people spend money they don't have,
to buy things they don't need, to impress
people they don't like and may not even
know.
But the biggest cause of stress in the
emotional dimension of life is when there is
a gap between your TALK and your WALK. In
other words, you can't profess one thing and
do another and still feel good about
yourself. The gap is called "stress."
To close the gap, there are two things
you've got to do, know what you love and
define the standards for your life,
In other words, clarify your values. Learn
what is most important to you. Determine
your priorities. As Dr. Sid Simon,
professor emeritus at the University of
Massachusetts says, "Find out what you
really, really, really love."
Of course, it will take some time to figure
out your "Standards of Life." But once you
do, life will become so much simpler for
you. You will no longer have to fret over
what to do, because when your values are
clear decisions are easy.
That will take some work. And it will take
some gut-wrenching honesty to figure out
what you value. After all, everyone else,
bosses, coworkers, customers, spouses, kids,
friends, relatives, churches, advertisers,
and political parties, is trying to tell you
what's important. In the midst of their
influence you can lose sight of what you
really, really, really love.
So as you do your search, look for truth.
As Adlai Stevenson said, "As scarce as truth
is, the supply seems greater than the
demand."
Once you know what you love, you close the
gap between your TALK and your WALK when you
live by what you value. In fact, you MUST
live by what you value (once you figure out
your values) or you'll have even more stress
in your life.
Reprinted with permission
from Dr. Alan Zimmerman's Tuesday Tip. As a
best-selling author and Hall of Fame
professional speaker, Dr. Zimmerman has
worked with more than a million people,
helping them become more effective
communicators on and off the job. To
receive a free subscription to his Tuesday
Tip articles, go to
http://www.DrZimmerman.com
