Often times, we get up in the morning, truly looking forward to the day. However, the moment we realise we need to go to work, the mood completely swings. Below is a close observation of a day in a person’s life. I hope it is relatable.
A big fat lie!
Helen considered herself an honest person and she would even claim that she never tells lies. She has been going to a fitness center for over a year and it was a ritual that her friend Sophie would ask her how her day was. Invariably Helen would say, ‘It was hell, another of those stressful days. I wish I quit my job. You see I never lie and I have to be honest.’
Sophie knew Helen well over two years and this same answer every time they met kind of annoyed her. She wanted to know what was bothering Helen at work. One fine day at the gym, she asked the same question again, ‘How was your day?’ and Helen replied very promptly, ‘It was hell. Another of those stressful days. I wish I quit my job. You see I never lie and I have to be honest’.
Sophie was not going to give up without knowing the root cause of Helen’s trouble. After all, something has been bothering her for at least two years now. Very gently, she approached Helen and offered her a coffee. Both of them sat at the café, and Sophie helped Helen unpack her previous day. She broke down the day by the hour and went through a set of questions hour by hour with her.
‘So I guess, you woke up at 7am. How was 7-8am ? ‘, Helen replied, ‘it was perfect.’
‘How about 8-9 am ?’, Helen said, ‘it was fine generally.’
‘Well then, 9-10 am, any issues?’ Helen bellowed, ‘Do hell with those scrum meetings! It was just awful.’
‘How many minutes did the meeting last?’, Helen retorted, ‘thirty minutes.’
‘Of those thirty minutes, for how long do you think it was unpleasant for you and what was the cause of this unpleasant feeling?’, Helen introspected and explained, ‘The project manager yelling at the team heightened my frustration and my turn to present was the most stressful and it lasted for about five minutes.’
‘Mmm… How about 10 – 11 am? Did anything unpleasant happen?’ Helen paused and mumbled, ‘I guess not.’
‘How about 12 – 2pm?’ Helen whispered, ‘I was pretty much in flow. Completely absorbed in my tasks. Not even sure how I felt.’
‘How about the rest of the day, any dissatisfied moments?’ Helen mumbled, ‘N…. no…’
This went on and Helen could not find any other hour that bothered her, after all she is a honest person and had to admit the truth.
With a chuckle on her cheek Sophie showed what she had jotted down to her dear friend, ‘So in total the unhappiness lasted for less than one percent of your day’.
Helen was left to wonder ‘How could I say it was hell and claim of being honest?