The Power of Offering
In publishing the schedules were killer, at certain times of year ââ¬â at some places all year ââ¬â folks would work 16 hour days and through the weekend. I would find myself telling new editors to go home without work. The conversation would often be the same.
ââ¬ÅGo on home. Youââ¬â¢re tired. Youââ¬â¢ll come back tomorrrow and in the first hour youââ¬â¢ll accomplish three times what you would do in the next hour now.ââ¬Â
ââ¬ÅBut I want to get this one thing done.ââ¬Â
ââ¬ÅOkay, we have to do what we need to. But will you do one thing for me?ââ¬Â
The answer was always an anticipatory look, tinged with a fear of possible more work.
ââ¬ÅRemember that you can only do whatââ¬â¢s humanly possible. . . . and to think you can do more makes you a kind of snob [big grin here], because the rest of us humans canââ¬â¢t.ââ¬Â
The reply would shoulders relaxing and a move to start packing up.
When I start to get ââ¬Ëwhelmed and rushed, I know itââ¬â¢s time to slow my step. I
So often I try to do more, be more, help more than the next guy. I might try to out achieve the overachiever, but I cannot do more than is humanly possible. For me to think that is sort of arrogant. What human can do more than a human can?
I can only do whatââ¬â¢s humanly posisible.
Itââ¬â¢s such a nice thought. I immediately relax when I think that humans need to eat, sleep, relax, reflect, reach for balance to be effective.
I can only do whatââ¬â¢s humanly posisible. Itââ¬â¢s like a mantra for overachievers.
I accept it, and people start smiling. Being human is attractive. It makes other humans feel good to have me around
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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If you’re ready to change the world, send me your thoughts in a guest post. Feel free to take the gorgeous Change the World image up there that Sandy designed back to your blog. Or help yourself to this one.
. Email me about what you’re doing or what we might do. Let’s change the world one bit at a time together. Together it can’t take forever.
Ouch!
You just made me realise I was about to ask someone to do more than humanly possible.
I was about to become arrogant and selfish.
Thanks for reminding me to allow everyone to be human (especially people you care for)
Wow! Karin,
We all do that. In fact, I should cut this one out and put it up on the screen in front of me. Thank you for saying that. I really hadn’t thought it through to that level.
Liz
Well, I’m glad it works two ways then.
You ‘saved’ me from doing something stupid and I gave you a ‘post-it’-note
Fair trade?
Karin,
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now. I love your brain!
😉
Both true and comforting, Liz! A corollary might be that as you persist in doing your best, your best improves and the word “possible” expands its boundaries. So what’s impossible for me to do today, through learning and effort, may become possible and even easy down the road.
It’s also a mantra for workaholics. (I’ve never regarded “over-achiever” and “workaholic” as entirely interchangeable terms…while they share some of the same underlying motives, they have some fairly big ones that aren’t in common.)
I had to run myself into the ground before I finally got “what’s humanly possible” ground into my brain.
Although I got myself reprogrammed several years ago, working in animal rescue for the last 18 months has been a constant reminder of “what’s humanly possible”.
Yep, this is how I ended up “burned out” and escaped to the Canary Islands … only to work 36 hours flat out at weekends translating stories for local newspapers. I keep trying to mantra myself on the balance stuff and I know it, but I think I need the 12-Step program! 🙂
Hi Easton,
Yeah, that would be growth. But don’t feel you have to be on a learning curve every day of your life. Some days were made for kicking back and taking it easy.
I’m like you Whitney. It took pulling myself as thin as wire and becoming impossible to live with before I faced the fact that real humans don’t let themselves become that way over work. Now I know that when I’m feeling that adrenalin pumping I start to say that mantra “hymanly possible, humanly possible . . .”
Hi Pamela,
I think better than a 12-step program might be 12 friends who are just the best fun to be with — the kind who tease me out of my serious need tow work and get me to play with them.
Great, humbling reminder of humanity, Liz. And I like what Easton said and also your responses. Stretching our possibles is good when appropriate, and so is plain having fun!
I canôt help myself but I donôt like the term “humanly possible”! From my point of view it builts boundaries where there should be none – in our heads!
I believe we all have to learn to have more fun and feel better while producing results Рand this has nothing to do with what̫s possible! And what̫s that anyway? If there is one thing we know then that we don̫t know what̫s possible!
I would love to see more people learning how to feel good and relaxed even when they have to do alot of work! And I certainly have to practise this to perfection myself 😉 Iôm still a newbie
Hi Stuart!
Welcome!
Strething possiblities is a great thing. Feeling like we have to do more than we can possibly do is stressful and defeating. I like stretching much more. 🙂
Hi Steli!
Shelila if you ever worked with 20 somethings who worked their hearts evey day to come in to find more work and more after that. They needed to know that they we’re expected to do more than a human could possibly do — because all of the signs around them said that they were.
I agree that we should be having fun pushing the bar and getting smarter, stetching to be all we can be. But when the bar is set beyond anyone’s reach it’s no longer an incentive it only defeats. That’s when we need to stop, quit overahieveing, start breathing, get some balance, quit feeling like we are the only ones who can make this world turn — and kick back to have some fun.
Some times all of that hard work earns us fun that isn’t work at all.
That’s all that I was saying. 🙂
Besidens if some folk think they can do more than the rest of us humans who can do only what a human dan do than thos humans are snobs. :0 *giggle* 🙂
Itôs a very thin line between being a snob and being a revolutionary genius 😛 The difference lies in the results. Unfortunately those results always lie in the past;-) But itôs certainly no lie to tell people from time to time to relax and be a little more groovy…
Hi Steli,
I’m sure of the situation that you might have in mind. However, the situation I’m thinking of is much lighter and not stuff from which one would think revolutionary genius. I was merely talking of folks fresh out of college working their hardest and thinking that wasn’t enough. With them I used the phrase snob as light humor to help them see that they were giving it all that anyone possibly could. 🙂
And I think that this was surely a great strategy to help them 🙂 Iôm just responding heavily when reading about whatôs possible or not. I know you had another scenario in mind an I believe we both agree! These days my world is all about “changing the world while having fun!” Kudos to your post and to the lessons Iôve learned today about blogging.
P.S. I just updated my last post and I can̫t find the trackback link to this post Рdo you even allow tracknacks?
Hi Steli!
I love your sense of joy and learning! No worries humans do have limits, but we don’t need to limit them or ourselves. I’m glad you are changing the world with us one little as we can.
In WordPress blogs the permalink for the post is the trackback too. You access it by clicking the post title. 🙂
🙂 thankx for yet another lesson learned!
You’re welcome
Morning Liz
Trackback does seem to be a problem.
“Count Your Blessings. How many times do we really do that? How many times do we stop and really think about how blessed we are?
Yesterday a post at Liz’s stopped me from doing something stupid:…..
Hi Karin,
I’m not understanding why some trackbacks are coming through and others are not. I wonder if the A’met monster is involved here. I didn’t think so, but I’m going on hunt for that right now.