Lesson From The Salt Vendor and His Donkey

Dear loving people,
 

Working for your success whether at your business or a paid position, you have to work hard and deal with work related stress. Having been somebody who had too many irons on fire and with wax on them, I can say that while some workplace stress is normal, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and impact your physical and emotional health. And your ability to deal with it can mean the difference between success or failure.

The fact is: you can’t control everything in your work environment, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless—even when you’re stuck in a difficult situation. Finding ways to manage workplace stress isn’t about making huge changes or rethinking career ambitions, but rather about focusing on the one thing that’s always within your control: you.

There was a salt vendor in a village. He used to buy salt from a nearby town. He had a donkey to carry this salt load. There were many streams to be crossed to reach the town. One day, the vendor was returning after his purchase. The donkey was loaded with salt bags. While they were crossing a stream, accidentally the donkey slipped and fell into the stream. A lot of salt got dissolved in the water. When the donkey got up the load became very light.

From that day, whenever the vendor returned from town after salt purchase, the donkey began to tumble half-way across one stream or the other. The vendor became suspicious. Once the vendor purchased bales of cotton and loaded his donkey with bales of cotton. The donkey felt the load to be unusually light. He thought "Today, I am going to tumble and this load is going to become much lighter".

On their way home, as usual, the donkey tumbled and fell into a stream. But alas! When the donkey tried to get up, the load pulled the donkey down. The cotton had absorbed water and become heavier. The vendor gave hard beatings to make the donkey get up and walk. From then on, the donkey never tumbled while crossing streams.

Avoiding work leads to more work and consequently to work related stress. When you feel overwhelmed at work, you lose confidence and may become irritable or withdrawn. This can make you less productive and less effective in your job, and make the work seem less rewarding. If you ignore the warning signs of work stress, they can lead to bigger problems. Beyond interfering with job performance and satisfaction, chronic or intense stress can also lead to physical and emotional health problems.