Leave Your Heart at Home From Time to Time

I get asked if I have friends at work. The answer to it is YES, A lot of them! But I also practice leaving my heart at home from time to time!!

There's a Zen story about a Monkey who sees a banana across the river and a crocodile that offers to carry him across the river.

The monkey readily jumps on his back and the crocodile begins to swim across. In the middle of the river, however, he stops and says, "Stupid Monkey, now you're stuck and I'm about to eat you."

To which the monkey replies, "Oh boy, I'd love for you to eat me but I left my heart on the other side of the bank, that's the tastiest part of me. It's juicy and rich, a real delicacy. I wouldn't want you to have a less satisfying meal."

The crocodile says, "That sounds tasty. All right, I'll take you to the other bank so you can bring me your heart."

They arrive at the far bank and the monkey runs off saving his a$%.

The point of this story is at your hashtag#workplace, no matter how cool the org is you will have moments when you have to deal with crocodiles, during these moments it's best to leave your heart at home.

You can't always be vulnerable. Sometimes it will be used against you.

If you start loving unconditionally in a professional context, it may take people off guard. They're used to being motivated by fear or results and not by love. It's an alien experience and people might not respond well to it (learned it the hard way)

This does not mean you shouldn't love your colleagues. 

It's just that you can't expect them to love you the same way always. Respect and trust go a long way at hashtag#work than love and affection.