43. The Boss drinks tea

☰/☳/☵ Today I was asked if tea 茶 (Tea Time equals Me Time) can help during painfully stressful difficult moments at work? ☳/☵/☰ And the answer was yes. But saying yes is hard for me because I know what is coming next: The follow up question of How so? ☵/☶/☶ Truth be told, while tea 茶 can help a person, the tea industry itself is a difficult one that lacks the pizzazz of coffee, the pleasures of alcohol and the get-shit-done kick of energy drinks. And if sales don't match expectations it's easy to go broke. ☶/☰/☴ Many years ago I used to get called Laoban 老闆 by my staff and times were good. Then the GFC hit, the lease shot up, taxes needed to be paid, and staff wanted a hefty payrise... that last one was hard to swallow, given that I drove an old Honda while they were driving the latest BMW's and Merc's. The stress alone of staying positive in the face of these challenges pushed me over and after a week of being bedridden with illness and assessing the situation, I had to let most of my staff go. ☷/☷/☱ That meant I had to man the office, pack the tea 茶 and deliver the goods. Which while for a brief moment brought financial relief, it was having a toll on me physically and mentally. Thank God Almighty for my Baguazhang 八卦掌. That just gave me the strength to keep going... ☴/☱/☳ Until one day, a close friend introduced me to my now dear friend Amy. She came in and seeing my stress et cetera, decided to join my company because as she would later tell me, I was close to the edge. God bless her. ☲/☲/☷ The first thing she did for me was make me a cup of tea 茶 with milk. Gave it to me in a mug. Told me to go upstairs, sit at my vacant boss desk and drink the tea 茶... slowly. ☱/☴/☲ In that moment, that cup of tea meant more to me than chasing the money in business. I reconnected with what I love about tea 茶. And it slowly but surely lead me down the path to where I am now promoting things like Tea Time equals Me Time. So yes. Tea 茶 can help but you have to let it help. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/