Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

The most important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second disastrous.- Margot Fonteyn

How many times have we seen people who took themselves so seriously and yet their work was disastrous? In my years of working with people, I have found the people who take themselves too seriously are usually difficult to work with and their jobs aren't even mediocre. Usually, this type does not take instruction and think they can always do everything on their own. I guess this calls for an examination of ourselves to determine what we take seriously. My job requires excellence and I must seriously work to the best of my ability. Yet, I realize someone else can always replace me. Guess that's why I better laugh at myself rather than create disaster
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6 comments:

  1. Oh my, how true! I remember one time I messed up a song so bad that me and Keith lost it. We laughed so hard we cried. Of course we had to leave the building and we just stood outside and laughed and laughed. I don't think my Dad was to happy about it though. LOL
    www.iluv2prshim.wordpress.com

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  2. Ronda - you talking about messing up a song brought back a funny memory to me. When I was about 8 or 9, my Mom, Paula, and I were singing "Roll Back the Curtain." Paula was playing the organ and Mom and I were standing behind her trying to share one microphone. The kind of mic that looked like a brick. Mom tried to pull it closer and the entire boom with the mic attached came off the stand. Of course, Paula and I got the biggest fit of giggles. Needless to say, Mom was hitting us in the back telling us to straighten up but we could not control the giggles, and that was the end of the song. LOL Such great memories!

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  3. Time for confession? Oh, my. Last year I sent several poems from my current manuscript to an editor. She kept rejecting them, one by one. In desperation, I sent her an exercise written years ago for a poetry class. The editor acccepted and published "A Musical Exercise: In Which the Kids Die and a Star Cooks the Meat." The point of the exercise was to use repeating sounds. Nothing in the poem, now among my publication credits, makes any sense; whereas, the poems in my manuscript ar important, at least to me. LOL
    Helen

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  4. Helen - you are a great example of taking work seriously and yourself lightly. I wonder if that editor has realized just what she missed?!? LOL

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  5. I try not to take myself too seriously, because then I end up feeling depressed. I thank God though, that I have made progress in this area of my life.

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  6. Hi, Carol - thanks for dropping by. You know, I think people feel more free when they can laugh at themselves. Being too serious can bind someone and prohibit them in certain areas. Glad you are lightening up on yourself. XO

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