Today I was productively making my way through my to-do list at work, when a co-worker called and asked me to help with a simple task. Being in a generous mood, I quickly said yes without giving it much thought. That is where I should have stopped.
Once I hung up the phone and began to "over think" the request, my mind swirled with a bunch of "what ifs." So I called my co-worker back and began my litany of queries about many of the details that I assumed I needed to know to fulfill this task. Let me be clear--I wasn't trying to go back on my word or get myself out of the commitment. I was just blowing it out of proportion and making it more difficult than it needed to be.
Then I was blessed with an insight. I knew that my co-worker was really busy on a number of projects, and that she had simply asked me to take on one thing. Now I was "obsessing" over the one thing she had tried to take off her plate. I was suddenly aware of how unhelpful I was being.
So, I said to myself, "You know what? I'm going to take this responsibility seriously and do a good job, but I am not going to take myself seriously. I will treat this lightly." I remembered that quote by G.K. Chesterton and I smiled to myself. I told my co-worker that I would be just fine with this task and then really left it at that.
What a joy to take oneself lightly and know that all will be well in the end. May you lightly and happily march forth!
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