Working People

I heard something recently that really struck me and I wanted to share it:

Working people are working.

The context of this statement was a discussion about how no matter what your goals are, when you’re working on them, you usually don’t have time to be concerned with negativity.

Maybe you are working on becoming more physically fit, on building a more sustainable life, on learning new skills, on working toward financial freedom, on healing your body, on bettering yourself, on shifting your nervous system to a state of calm, on taking care of your family, on serving others, on enjoying your life — when you’re really busy and focused, naysayers and haters can’t get you down, because you’re too busy working.

Working people aren’t sitting around crying over the next internet troll who comes along spelling out their misery and fear in the form of hateful words and derision. Working people don’t have time to worry about that.

Working people are working.

Or have you ever told an acquaintance, friend, or family member about something that is important to you and they look at you like you’ve grown two heads?
“Why do you want to do that?”
“That sounds like a lot of work for nothing to me.”
“Good luck with that.”
Maybe you’ve heard these expressions and started to doubt yourself or feel embarrassed. For me, I have to remind myself to keep after it by taking that energy that I’m using on reacting to what somebody said and transmute it into working energy.

Or maybe you have known those people who seem never to be bothered by what anyone else thinks and wished you could be like that. I suspect that their secret is that they don’t use their time to focus outwardly; rather they are using their energy to move forward. They don’t have excess time in which they wonder how everyone perceives them or if someone is offended or making fun of them. They’re too busy for that because they’re working people, and

WORKING PEOPLE ARE WORKING.

It may be a cliche, but the older you get, the more you realize that most other people’s opinions don’t matter. In my humble opinion, what truly matters is doing what’s right, taking care of yourself and your loved ones, and living your life.
Unfortunately, I think we hear many more opinions than our ancestors did because of technology and the media. I am fairly certain my great grandmother wasn’t too worried about what someone clear across the nation would think about her choices or lifestyle. This is one of the worst things about the age of technology we live in, in my opinion, along with the constant influx of information and the perpetual demand that you stay up-to-date, pick a side, weigh in, and make yourself mentally and emotionally available 24-hours-a-day, not only to people you know, but to strangers thousands of miles away that you have never met and probably never will meet. These mental and emotional demands suck your time and your energy and pull you away from whatever it is you’re working toward.

So what do you do?

To quote one of my favorite television shows, Seinfeld: “Hey, I’m doing what I do. I’ve always done what I do. I’m doing what I do, the way I’ve always done it and the way I’ll always do it.” Kramer wasn’t fooling with anyone else’s opinion about what his life should look like. He was just being himself and “T.C.B. — taking care of business” (another Kramer quote).
I put it to you that if you find yourself experiencing doubt or embarrassment or sadness because somebody is trying to tear down what you’re doing, you might try to focus your energy away from listening and shift into working mode.

(Disclaimer: I do not want to give the impression that I am against rest and recreation, or that I think that these things are not productive. I am one hundred percent including rest as a vital component of work. And, these days, the act of resting or having fun often IS work. For example, we live in a culture in which many people find it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep, and correcting the imbalances that contribute to that is HARD WORK and often requires a lot of stress mitigation that some may consider a waste of time.)

Remember that you choose where to focus your time, attention, and energy, and no one can get you down without your say-so. You can choose not listen to the haters.

And when you’re really working and giving it your all, you probably won’t hear them anyway.