Stress

I had about a two hour fire to stomp out this afternoon and I found the conflict exhilarating.

You see I have prided my self over my career to be able to compartmentalize my work and personal life. I developed a way in the late 1990's to work less than 30 hours a week but yield the effort of a person working overtime. It worked most of the time and allowed me to make a nice living and enjoy life to the fullest now.

Sadly in recent years and months this system has eroded to where I am beginning to be a stressed out person. I don't take stress well even though I have a stressful job. I can't be fired because I am self employed but I can fail. I have avoided stress and conflicts that are sometimes necessary.

This vacation has been relaxing and enjoyable. Yes I had two blow outs on the way down and yes my back was strained picking up a snagged crab trap caught on my anchor.

I have slept well and have napped every afternoon. I have riiden my bike, rode in the boat and taken several long Jeep rides. I am relaxed.

So I got this call this afternoon where I suspected a client had been defrauded out of a lot of money. I had only hours to reverse a potential problem that could involve hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My assistant is very capable and I am fortunate to have her. I gave her instructions and she made phone calls and I made phone calls from my Jeep. Within a few hours the deal was undone and everything was alright.

I am relaxed again. The vacation is working.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You wise man Reggie. You teach my husband you wisdom? LOL!!

My husband is currently caught in a job that has el ton o' stress and with the market the way it is...there's no real end in sight.

I'm glad you are enjoying your vacation. We are camping for 5 days up by Mackinac Island, MI but I doubt ours will be as relaxing with 3 little kids along. :)

none said...

Whew close call. Glad everything worked out.

Ken said...

Can you make the stress of finishing to a deadline go away for me, I'll never finish to the date anyway?

terri said...

I'm impressed that you can walk away from a huge problem like that and decompress again. You're my idol!

Michael said...

You know what you need? Ownership in a nice little property on St. Croix! All that stress will just melt away when you're secure in the knowledge that you own a little piece of paradise. Let me tell you how ;)

AmyK said...

I admit I do not know you very well at all, but, I am surprised that you find camping relaxing. It is so different from the island life. Camping to me, seems like a lot of work. But, again, no one camps like you do. You are a high maintenance camper so that I can relate to. These days have way too much stress. Get rid of it any way you can.

terri said...

It's not like you to skip your blogging just because you're on vacation. I hope the long absence just means you are having a fantastic time and relaxing well!

James said...

You must be good at your job wReggie.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday. Jeeps, boats and water....sounds great.