At 7.30pm, my fiance messaged me.
JUST IN: Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat collapsed during Cabinet meeting; CT scan shows he had a stroke says PMO.
I was shocked.
Judging by the number of posts published by the various MPs and Ministers, we could tell that his stroke was a serious one.
I've have never met him, and we don't know each other, but I was affected. I was possibly feeling concerned because he is a respectable Minister yet, as with all humans, succumbed to stress, leading to a poor health.
Many people are like him. Or are on the way to be him. One Minister wrote, "I could see that he was very tired. I have been telling him that he was overworking so much that it will affect his health." Mr Heng has been steering many big and heavy projects/committees and could possibly have neglected his health at. And then, I reflected on myself. Obviously, I don't hold as big a hat as him, but, would I one day work too much that I breakdown? How much is too much? I'm already feeling the brunt of long hours using the computer and my phone during "quiet" times - my eyes hurts, my neck shoulder and body aches, and I feel weak under the strong air-conditioned environment. My head occasionally hurts and I can't sleep well because I think too much at night. I've also collapsed recently, scaring the hell out of my fiance - oops. And, I'm only at the start of my career.
But, I cannot not work because I need the money to feed myself and my future family. At my prime age, I cannot afford to slack. So I've been giving myself reminders to move around more frequently, drink more water, think less at night and breathe in deeply when I feel stress.
Because of this case, I've also seen people commenting that our work hours are too punishing. Could this mean we should adopt a 6 hrs work day which was purportedly positive as seen in an article? Would our culture allows so? Would it backfire? Would we continue to work at home despite a 6 hours work day? What works well elsewhere, may not applies here. Yet, I've also read an interesting comment which said that our 8 hours work day effectively is much less because most people spend the 1st 1 hour, eating breakfast and another half hour chit chatting, and another 2 hours having lunch. Does this applies to you as well? :P
Mr Heng's incident is unfortunate but it also serves as a reminder for us to take note of our health. I know there are times when no matter how healthy you eat or exercise, you will never know when bad luck strikes, but, I hope we all make the effort to eat, rest and exercise well. I also hope for the best of health to all our Ministers for they have done really good work for the benefit of Singapore.
I sincerely pray for Mr Heng and I hope he recovers well.
Life is so fragile. Only recently, I became fully aware that when we grow older even common flu without adequate rest and hydration for full recovery can be fatal.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeleteit is sad to hear about Mr Heng's condition and I prayed he is well now.
"I cannot not work because I need the money to feed myself and my future family" - this sentence caught my attention and I thought you might be open to hear a different perspective.
Words are powerful and they arise from our thoughts, something that many people already knew but to exercise conscious control over our thoughts so that it generate positive thinking and thus we deliver positive, constructive words from our mouth. More importantly, it is NOT the words that we say to others that we should be more concerned about BUT what we say to ourselves daily. This inner conversation is imo the most important aspect of communication that may not receive as much attention nor coverage as gurus out there tout about their training programs on effective communication, persuasion, influencing, negotiation, etc.
While they are all good, it's emphasis tends to be outward oriented. We change not by influencing others but by influencing ourselves. We change not by influencing others but by influencing ourselves. This sentence warrants repetition because common sense may not be commonly practised.
As a relationship coach, I see many singles, couples with relationship challenges and over the years, the patterns - same one keep emerging. They wanted a way, an instantaneous one that I can offer to change their partner ! Unfortunately, there is none, short term behavioural change maybe.
I pen this article two over years ago and it has been one of my favourite. I read it from time to time , reminding myself about its teaching points and stick to it as much as possible.
http://www.stjobs.sg/career-resources/workplace-success/paint-a-bright-future/a/193719
I hope it would offer you fresh perspective and I wish you the best of health.
Cheers
Desmond
Heard this message over the radio: "They said health is wealth, but I say 'Health is everything'". Can't agree more to it. What is the use if you gain all the wealth on earth but loss you life?
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