Stress and burnout

The chap entered the gates of the afterlife, furious and determined to fight with the elusive god who made him all promises but seemed to have kept none.?

“Welcome back my child”, exclaimed god.?

How dare he? He acts as if he doesn’t know what I’ve been through.?

God and his guard knew what the chap was thinking. They kept mum, naughtily smiling at each other. They could converse through their impulses.

“So, how was heaven on earth?”

“What? You call that heaven?”

“Why? What happened?”

“You said I would have a blissful life. But nothing can ever be blissful on that dreaded planet!”

“Why don’t you elaborate?”

The chap blurted out all the miseries he had been through.?

“I am so sorry you had to go through all this.”

“And, you promised me that I will be aided by some assistant who will always help me. I could not find that blessed assistant at all.”

“Oh, I am so sorry you could not find the assistant. Listen, this time I will equip you with an assistant who will be better than your previous one.”

“Hell, no! Not again!”

“Be patient. Listen to me.”

“Okay go on. It better be the best this time.”

“You bet. In the life you are about to experience, you will have an assistant who will:?

• Be your humble servant?
• Listen to whatever you say; not just your words but also your impulses?
• Keep track of all your wishes and desires
• Remind you of what you wish to do?
• Even tell you what you should do?
• Proactively and seamlessly do what you ought to be doing even before you provide your instructions
• Remind you relentlessly round the clock about your dreams and wishes
• Release chemicals in your body as needed for you to act
• Be always one step ahead of you?
• Always guide you?
• Help you imagine the unimaginable??
• Take care of you end to end?
• Multitask seamlessly?
• Work in a supersonic manner, even faster than the speed of light

All you have to do is wish. You can plan your life here as we speak. And it will be taken care of.”

The chap thought this was a fantastic offer. He was busy imagining and calculating his to-be life. He was engrossed in imagining what he will do day after day, night after night.?

God and his guard were laughing within but were careful to not let the chap know how much fun they were having at his expense. God motioned to his guard as usual and vanished into another room.?

An hour passed.?

The chap was still busy imagining his future life.?

“You have got a good deal there”, said the guard.?

“Wait, let me finish”, he told the guard.?

After he had finished imagining his life, he turned to the guard.?

“What did you say?”

“I said you have got a good deal there. Not many get such a supersonic assistant and a life of their choice. Only the gifted ones do. Good for you.”

“Have I not? So, you think so too huh!”.?

“Absolutely. I would just blindly take it if I were you. The door is open behind you to plunge back in to earth and show what you are now capable of to your fellow humans.”

“Yes, I am all set and excited. Wait! Where is god?”

"He is on his usual rounds. May take a while to be back. Look, the door will not be open for long. This is your chance.”

“Will you tell god how much I love and adore him for this, and thank him on my behalf?”

“Consider it done. And let me tell you this: You are going to rock it!”

“Bye bye!”, said the chap who hurriedly jumped out of the door.

God was seeing all this peeking through the door behind which he stood.?

“Is he gone?”

“Yes, as we planned.”

“Well done my girl.”

Meanwhile... somewhere in the earth's atmosphere.... "Oops....!!!!", the chap realized half way through a point of no return that he had forgotten to ask where he could find this supersonic assistant. "I cannot be making this same mistake every time! Never mind. I will find it this time", he resolved.

“But I am just curious", continued the guard. "Why do you not tell them the full thing before these chaps jump back?”

“You see, we too need some entertainment here...

If I told them that the executive assistant is their own brain which is numb and cannot be felt, the chaps will live an informed life and that will be boring as hell for us here...

As they do not know this, they run like headless chickens...

And their invisible brain psyches them out with relentless reminders and instructions as the chaps do not have control on what they load and what they get back in return...

It is like running a complex machine without knowing where the control panel is...

This leads to something called stress and burnout, and they act funny as a result...

And boy, is that not fun to watch! Turn on the television...”

The guard turned on the television.?

“Look! Some lunatics are bombing each other from lands they call Russia and Ukraine! It is so funny to see these brainy chaps act completely brainless... haha!”

Smiling, god concluded, “You see... the ones who discover that their executive assistant is none other than their brain will know how to use it and ultimately win the game! It’s all a game, my child. Have fun!”