stress relief
Why Should You Act Like a Duck?
Do you let people and situations “get to you”? Do you find that your mood and stress level can be easily determined by others? If so, this story is for you. A number of years ago I worked with an executive of a fairly large organization who always seemed to keep an even temperament no matter what issues confronted him. Day in and day out, he seemed to keep things on an even keel and almost never 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 effective 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 years later, I looked up and he was standing in front of my desk, having dropped by the organization for a visit. As we talked, I remembered how he was 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 many years ago he had a life changing experience as a result of a heart attack. His doctors told him that he must make some lifestyle changes in order to live a long, full life. He told me that things had bothered him tremendously in the past, and he easily became emotional. But he learned how to control it.
The technique that he used to rutn things around was to visualize with a picture that hung on his back office wall. It was a picture of ducks.
He asked me, “Scott, do you know what water does when it hits a duck’s back?” and then he said “It runs off! So whenever somebody came into my office upset or the phone rang with a major problem, I always looked at that picture and imagined I was one of those ducks and all the problems I faced on a daily basis were like water. 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 powerful! He was great at dealing with problems and issues, but he didn’t let himself get upset by them and emotionally bent ut of shape.
I saw him just the other day coming out of a physical fitness facility. He is still going strong and is probably in his seventies. The heart attack he had thirty years before was a wake up call to him. With the help of the ducks, he made major lifestyle changes.
Act like a duck. Let problems and thing that bother you run off your back like water. It’s important to deal effectively with problems, but if yu let them get under your skin and you become emotional, you will undermine your physical health, your mental health, and your organizational health. Turn your problems into water, watch them roll off your back, and live your dreams.
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