Monday, April 5, 2010

At What Price?

The man on the lounge chair next to me at the pool in this beautiful Mexican town was talking about his company and the work they do. The Company sent several hundred employees to this resort for a sales celebration. They had an incredible stage set up on the beach for the evening events and we could hear the music, partying and awards presentation the night before. "Those salespeople that received awards probably log well over 80 hours a week working", he said with pride. He included himself in that prestigious group. "At what price?", I thought to myself as I learned of the separation in his marriage after inquiring about the book he was reading. It is his choice and I am sure he is happy with it for many reasons, but it would not be mine.

I think about the people in my yoga classes. Sometimes they don't listen to their bodies. Their bodies tell them to stop or back off from a pose and they keep pushing to get to that perfect performance of the pose no matter what hurts or how labored their breath is. "At what price?", I think. I encourage them to make every pose work for them but they have one thing on their mind and all else is lost from their focus.

Think about what you are doing. At what price? Do you need to change your focus?