stress

it is often said that we have to draw the line between work and personal life and should not let the two mix. i agree to some point. work is work and there are some parts of the job that should never get into your personal life. however the two mixing together is not really something you can stop.

we are human beings. our brains does not have compartments that divides work and personal life. at some point, the two will mix and oftentimes to a not so good result.

i agree that whatever stress we feel at work should be left at work and not be brought home. i wish it is that easy though. you see, truth is, stress is not like a document that you can just leave in the office when you go home. it is something that you carry within you regardless if you want it or not. you do your best to leave the stress behind because for pete's sake who wants to carry that around? you try to be a more cheerful, functioning human being outside your workplace for as much as you can and as long as you can. you do your best to enjoy the few precious hours you have to de-stress yourself and rest. you try to be a different person (more human kind of person) when you get home in an attempt to separate your work life and your home life. you do your best for as long as you can but eventually the dam breaks.

we are humans. our psyche, i guess, were just really not built to maintain two kinds of life--- the stressed and  the stress-free. eventually everything mixes up and things go downhill.

that is why i believe employers should be considerate about the personal needs of their employees. it is not enough that you tell your employee that they should not bring their personal problems at work because how sure are you that their personal problem did not all start from the problems they got at work? employers should think not only of an employee's physical health and intelligence but their emotional and psychological states as well. sometimes, they just need rest, a breathe of fresh air.

you see, someone may appear physically healthy but inside they have struggles that may be too much already for them to bear. how do you expect them to function properly? everyone has got emotional issues at some point in their lives and although most of the time it's negligible and can easily be forgotten, there are some times when these issues are really too much for someone.

but i guess in a business standpoint, it doesn't matter what struggles your employees are having. they are being paid to work so they should work, right? and if they can't bear it anymore then they should just quit, right? i guess that's how you show how much you value your people.