“The situation is very critical”

My boss from the previous company was obsessed with the word critical. Whenever there used to be a high severity bug reported by customer, he used to say that “a critical defect has been reported” or “situation is very critical”, etc. One day, at home, being his usual self, he was tensed and kept uttering the word “critical” in front of his wife (who by the way is a surgeon) and how difficult situation he was in and how unsure he is of getting out of this situation. She had enough of him that day, and asked him, “Do you even know the meaning of the word critical?”. “You won’t understand”, he retorted. She continued anyway cutting him off. “Is anyone dying or fighting for his/her life? Do you want to know what critical means? If a person is lying down on an operation table with his chest cut open, and you are holding his heart in your hands, which is still beating, that is critical! What you described are difficult situations you should be concerned about”. The point I am trying to make here is we should definitely be concerned with such situations, but being worried to the point of affecting one’s health is what exactly we should be avoiding. The kind of work we do, is not a life and death matter. So remain concerned but not worried. Problems are treasures, opportunities that are thrown our way to make ourselves better. We should bubble them up and discuss them openly. So next time you goof up, remember it’s just a temporary situation. Discuss with your peers, supervisor and resolve it. You will be amazed how good you feel.