Christmas Eve three years ago, in a small but beautiful french restaurant, people were talking, laughing and enjoying their Christmas dinner. 
　

Then there was my girlfriend, sitting by the window, talking on the cellphone, looking every bit as beautiful as any woman in the world. She wore her finest dress and her nicest jewels -- but wait a second, she wore no smile!! She was yelling toward the cellphone!! Why? 
　

Contest Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I guess that's because – I wasn't there with her. 

I was on the other end of the cellphone, in my office, working overtime. You see I got trapped in my work and couldn't make it to the dinner on time. So of course she was pissed off. I tried to calm her down but she kept on yelling.

I wasn't sure whether it bothered other customers in the restaurant, but the way she yelled my name, so loud and so clear, I was pretty sure that restaurant would never take my reservation call again.  

To make things even worse, something went wrong with my computer and the notorious blue screen with white texts jumped out, saying “There's something wrong with the program. Please contact your program designer.”

I swear to God I've seen that screen more than 1000 times, but I still have no idea whom the hell I should contact with. For Christ's sake if you want me to contact someone you should at least give me his phone number. You hear me, Mr. Gates? 
　

At that moment, it seemed like the whole world was taking on me. I couldn't take it anymore. I jumped onto my chair, stretched my arm into the air and screamed: 

“Could somebody, please…. GIVE ME A BREAK~~~~~~” 
　

I was met by stunned silence. But there seemed to be some noise in the air “zzz….zzz” – yep, that's my girl. 

“You want a break? I'll give you a break!! I am telling you: we're so over!!” Then she hung up. So instead of the break I asked for, my girlfriend broke up with me. 
　

The only good news of that cold winter was, my boss finally gave me the promotion he had long promised me – he made me the “Technical Manager”. But it didn't take long for me to find out that what “Technical Manager” actually meant was: “Technically, you're the manager…” 

Last October, with another Christmas Eve coming up, I decided to get myself a big break – I quit. I took a trip to Italy. There, for two whole weeks, I wandered down the ancient hallways in Rome, lingered at the street-side cafés in Florence, drifted along the Grand Canal in Venice listening to the gondolier singing “O Sole Mio!” – ah, La vita e bella -- life is so beautiful. 
　

There's an old Chinese saying that goes, “Take a break, so that you could walk a longer way.” That's true. After this big break, I reported to my new company, fully energized, ready to set my feet on that longer way -- or so I thought.

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Three months into my new job, I found myself back in the old days again. I worked overtime until midnight everyday. I woke up every morning feeling tired,  exhausted and reluctant to go to work. I put up such a long face that my colleagues asked me how I lost my weight. 
　

When I finally finished the project on a Saturday night, I was depleted. I was all burnt out. It's like the whole world was taking on me, again. So I did it again.  
　

“Give me a break~~~~” 
　

This time, nobody broke up with me, but my chair broke, but I guessed it couldn't take it anymore, either. 
　

I looked at the broken chair and told myself “This can't be it. It's not right. I can't take a big break every four months. That's not how work is done, not how business is handled, and certainly not how life is managed.” 
　

Determined to find out the problem, I started to review my working journal and very quickly I noticed something: I found that I often spent an entire day fixing some small mistakes. And the reason I made those mistakes was because I couldn't stay focused – which was because I was always tired, working overtime. 
　

Well I'll be damned. I thought by working overtime everyday I could save some time. But the time I spent to clean up those mistakes I made out of fatigue more than cancelled the time I saved. 
　

I suddenly realize: what I needed was not another big break, but a lot of small breaks, one for each and every single day. 

The next Monday, I started to force myself to start working on time in the morning and leave the office as the clock striked six. At work I stayed extremely focused; at home I stayed extremely asleep. Sometimes my boss shouted to me “Jerry!! Why do you leave the office so early?” I always shouted back “Boss, just give me a break!!” and at the same time prayed to God that he would'not fire me. 
　

Last week I walked into his office and told him that I had finished the new project - one week before the deadline. He was extremely surprised but very pleased. He asked me if I'd like to take a break and travel somewhere. I smiled and answered “No need of that, sir. I already got a break, every single day.” 
　

The old Chinese saying goes, “Take a break, so that you could walk a longer way.” I say, “give me a break everyday, not only I could walk a longer way, but I could also walk in a faster pace!!
　

So, my dear friends, next time your boss ask you to work overtime everyday, even though the deadline is still far away, what do you say to him? 
　

“Give me a break!!” 
　

What if your boss promises to make you some “Technical Manager” if you sacrifice your time with your family, what do you say to him? 
　

“Give me a break!!” 
　

What if the Vice President Education of your club ask you to deliver a speech every week and get your CTM in three months and attend the prepared speech contest, what do you say to him? 
　

(“Give me a break!!”) 
　

No. In that case, you say “Sir, yes, sir!!” 
　

Now if you excuse me, it's my time to take a break.

Contest Chair.