Here's your Friday Fix.

If you enjoy it, please share with your family and friends.
If not, please tell us, and we will fix it. R&P
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"Our limitations and success will be based, most often, on our own expectations
for ourselves. What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon."
- Denis Waitley
"Secret? There is no secret ... just have fun. Don't worry about every last lit
tle thing. Somehow, it always works out."
- Lilly Pulitzer
______________________________
WHY YOU SHOULD ACT LIKE A DUCK
Cows and Rhinos? Now Ducks? ... Yes, sometimes I think the animal world is a lit
tle bit more humane than the human world.
Do you let people and situations "get to you?" Do you find that your mood and st
ress level can be easily determined by others? If so, then this story is for you
.
A number of years ago I worked with an executive of a fairly large organisation
who always seemed to keep an even temperament no matter what issues confronted h
im. Day in and day out, he seemed to keep things on an even keel and almost neve
r seemed to get his feathers ruffled.
I always admired his ability to stay "loose in the saddle." He seemed to be very
much in control of his emotions and didn't let things "get to him."
Then one day I found myself at his retirement party. He had been extremely effec
tive over the years, and I could sense some reluctance on his part to be leaving
. But he did, and I didn't see him for a while.
Several monthss later, I looked up and he was standing in front of my desk, havi
ng dropped by the organisation for a visit. As we talked, I remembered how he wa
s always very much in control of things. I remembered the calm disposition that
he always seemed to have. This man obviously knew something I didn't.
So, I asked him point blank, "How did you do it? Why did things that would drive
others crazy not bother and upset you?"
He looked me in the eyes and described how several years before he had a life ch
anging experience as a result of a heart attack. His doctors told him that he mu
st make some lifestyle changes in order to live a long, full life. He told me th
at things had bothered him tremendously in the past, and he easily became emotio
nal. But he learned how to control it.
The technique that he used to turn things around was to visualize with a picture
that hung on his back office wall. It was a picture of ducks.
He asked me "Do you know what water does when it hits a duck's back?" and then h
e said "It runs off it! So whenever somebody came into my office upset, or the p
hone rang with a major problem, I always looked at that picture and imagined I w
as one of those ducks, and all the problems I faced on a daily basis were like w
ater. I let the emotional part of them roll off my back"
When the going got tough, he looked at the duck picture! How simple, but powerfu
l! He was great at dealing with problems and issues, but he didn't let himself g
et upset by them and emotionally bent out of shape.
I saw him just the other day coming out of a physical fitness facility. He is st
ill going strong, and is probably in his late eighties. The heart attack he had
thirty years before was a wakeup call to him. With the help of the ducks, he had
made major lifestyle changes.
Act like a duck. Let problems and things that bother you run off your back like
water. It's important to deal effectively with problems, but if you let them get
under your skin and you become emotional, you will undermine your physical heal
th, your mental health, and your organisational health. Turn your problems into
water, watch it roll off your back, and live your dreams!
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Hugs, Health, Happiness and Harmony :-)
Rod and Pauline Hyatt