Are You Watering Weeds?

“I cannot and I do not want to do it”, I said with a calm voice. A few minutes later, I ended that short phone conversation and heard the employees at my accountant’s office express their admiration. I was surprised. Whilst I was on the phone, one of them had had her own phone call, which left her upset with the irrational demands of a client.

So, they were admiring the firmness with which I had set my boundaries and clarified my position.

I asked what the situation was and did what I do best: I listened. I heard them share their frustration and anger at the demands and arguments they have to put up with. Conversation after conversation, all examples of the same pattern were unfolding. A client insists on doing the things his own way, with no respect for the time and work needed, mostly with arguments that appear divorced from common sense. Then, they – the employees – try to reply to these nonsensical arguments and get involved in a conversation that would make the Marx brothers very content and anyone else simply frustrated.

We were next to the garden, so I showed them the weeds in a corner of the grounds and asked: "Why do you water them?"

"Some arguments, some conversations are like these weeds." I continued. "They only create a mess, so why do you choose to engage in such arguments and conversations? Stop watering them."

Note to all: Water only what you wish to develop and enjoy. What makes sense to you and your self-respect.