Career vs Social Life?

In this modern fast-paced living, we are always torn apart between career and social life. To balance the two is indeed challenging since we need to be very discipline to decide when, where and how to draw the line. The following story would be a useful reminder of balancing between career and social life.

Once upon a time a Washerman was bringing up two donkeys (Arnold and Billy). Arnold felt he was very energetic and could do better than the other. He always tried to attract the Washerman's attention by taking more load and walking faster in front of him. Innocent Billy is normal, so he will walk and work at a normal pace, irrespective of the Washerman's presence. After a period of time, Washerman started pressurising Billy to walk and work like Arnold. But Billy, unable to walk and work fast, got continuous punishment from Washerman.

Billy then pleaded to Arnold: "Dear friend, there are only two of us here, why do we have to compete with each other .... we can carry equal load at normal speed.". That made Arnold all the more energetic and Arnold told the Washerman that he could carry more load and could even run faster. Obviously the happier washerman looked at Billy and started kicking Billy.

The next day with smile, Arnold carried even more load and started running fast. But it was breathtaking for Billy and he couldn't work that way. The Washerman was frustrated, so he harassed Billy terribly, and finally Billy collapsed. Arnold instantly felt more superior and happily started carrying more load with great speed. But with Billy's load now also being shouldered by Arnold, Arnold was still expected to maintain his speed. For some period Arnold did, until finally due to fatigue, Arnold got tired and started feeling the pain. But washerman expected more from Arnold. Arnold also tried his best, but he just couldn't cope with his owner's demand. The Washerman got angry with Arnold and started harassing Arnold to take more load... Arnold just could not meet the owner's expectations.

Finally, with built-up frustration, the Washerman killed Arnold and went searching some other donkeys who could meet the Washerman's expectation. Its an endless story.......

The moral of the story also applies to our corporate and social life is. Remember, all colleagues are same and that everyone is capable.... Always share the load equally. And it does not matter if you are Arnold or Billy, for the Boss you will always be a "DONKEY". So it is important that we learn to work smart and not hard in today's fast-paced and dynamic environment and to always balance our social life at the same time.

Success is a journey not a destination.