Getting a Busy Signal

Two natural gas company service personnel, a senior training supervisor
and a young trainee, were out checking meters in a suburban
neighborhood. They parked their truck at the end of an alley and worked
their way to the other end.

At the last house, a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the
two men as they checked her gas meter. When they finished, the senior
supervisor, proud of his physical condition, challenged his younger
co-worker to a foot race back to their truck.

As they approached the truck, they realized that the woman from the
last house they checked was huffing and puffing right behind them. They
stopped and asked her what was wrong.

Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I saw two gas men running as
hard as you two were, I figured I'd better run, too!"

In another way, we spend a great deal of time running, don't we? We are
running to catch up at work. We are running to keep up at home. We
speak of "running" errands. We "rush" off, we drive in the "fast" lane,
we stop at the "Quick" mart, we buy "fast" food, we use the "express"
lane, and we "hurry" back so we can "race" through our meal. Too often
our lives are lived in fast forward. No wonder we "run down"!

One tele-communications company executive went to see his doctor. She
listened to her patient's heart, shook her head and said, "All I get is
a busy signal."

Living fast does not usually mean we will have more free time. Rather,
it often means we feel we have too much to do! An important part of
reducing harmful stress is to simply slow down. Take a walk. Spend some time alone.
Be still. Listen to your soul.
Surprisingly, you may find you have MORE energy left for the important
work.

In time, you may wonder why you ever rushed at all!