In a certain company, a young employee went to the HR head and said, I can’t work here any longer. I want to quit this job. The HR head asked why? Please tell me what happened. The whole atmosphere is so toxic to my mind, replied the young man. There are people here who are into a lot of politics. Then there are those who talk negative all the time. Some spent most of their time gossiping than working. I don’t think I can handle this any longer. The HR head said, okay, but I have a request to make before you leave, the man asked, please tell me what can I do for you sir? The HR head said, I want you to do this one last thing sincerely. I want you to take a glass of water filled to the brim and walk around the office area three times without spilling a drop of water on the floor after that, you may leave the job if you wish.

That sounded weird, the man thought, it was just a matter of few minutes anyways. He took a glass full of water, and walk three times around the office block. He then came to the HR head to tell him that he was done. The HR head asked when you were walking around the office floor, did you see any employee speaking badly about another employee? Any gossips, any disturbances? The man replied, no, the HR further asked, did you see any employee looking at another employee in the wrong way? No, replied the young man and you know why asked the HR head, because you were focused on the glass to make sure you didn’t tip over and spill any water. And the same goes about life. When we focus on our priorities, we don’t have the time to see all the drama around us, the mistakes of others, gossip, politics, negativity, et cetera.

The fact is anywhere we go, we’re going to find toxic people. Change of job or change of situation doesn’t necessarily ensure freedom from such people. We should certainly do what we can to positively change things around us, but when we know that we’ve done our best and things still remain more of less the same, we should shift our focus, to the glass of water, our priorities, our growth, our exit, and then we won’t be as much affected by the negativity around us. And if it is absolutely beyond our capacity to handle. We may actually need to change knowing well that the new job or the new situation, will bring fresh complexities along with them as well.