Leaving behind problems at the place they belong to

No one is spared of pain and sorrow in life. Everyone has his or her quota of them in varying degrees. Good and bad come in one’s life at unexpected times. While the good events are accepted with glee, the bad incidents always leave us in despondency and trauma. They are felt more and affect the rhythm of life. The longer it lasts the pain and helplessness grows in intensity. We often compare with others and feel more miserable. We even tend to blame others for our misfortune or curse God for making us victims while sparing others. We become grouchy and tend to carry the problems at home to office and vice versa. Frustrations like sick child, lack of money, poor accommodation, and quarrelsome relatives and so on may manifest in irritable behavior in office, poor output and brooding. The pressure in office, the displeasure of boss heavy work, poor quality, and long commuting may result in sulking at home, abrasive tendency, lack of warmth and pleasantness. The joy in the home is robbed off and everyone moves to some corner unable to bear the stuffiness. We think we are lightening our mind even by sharing our problems with rank outsiders. This is a common human trait

I read this story by an unknown author in the net

“The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.

On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

 Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied." I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

He paused. "Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

As the carpenter did, we must learn to segregate the problems we have outside and inside the home and not bring the wrong ones to the wrong place. They hardly help in resolution of the issues but surely affect the peace and harmony at either location. Most of the problems get resolved, may be not to our full satisfaction, in a few days and if only we had the trouble tree outside the home and office as the carpenter had, life would be far more pleasant. Tough as it may seem, if tried sincerely, it will make for greater harmony.