Quit playing with the paper clips for a minute. Instead, pick up that spare rubber band on your desk.

Hold it in your hands. Resist the urge to flip it at your co-worker. Stretch it. Further.

Feel like your life?

Whether it’s the economy, your stage in life, or just the pace of business these days, you are being stretched. We all are. Technology has introduced things no one has done before, and our learning curve is steep. Old business models are out the door, and new ones are still evolving. It’s not our imagination that working faster just means people want faster responses.

We’re stretched, sometimes to the point of breaking.

Put the rubber band down for a minute. What happens when you just let it lie there, alone? Odds are it crumples up, folds in upon itself, and doesn’t serve any real purpose. Now, pick it up and stretch it just a little. It grows taut and feels stronger, as though it has purpose, right?

Look around your desk—what would you do with that rubber band, now that you see its potential? Organize that stack of folders and move them into a file? Separate the dry erase markers from the permanent markers? Remember to take that stack of business cards from your last conference, and do some follow up?

Stretching the rubber band brings some purpose. Stretching yourself does the same. When you feel that sense of going someplace, of having a task, of holding things together just a little more tightly, well, you have been stretched.

Only you know how far you are stretched, and know whether you are maxed out or if you can maintain a nice, strong line. As with many things in life, it’s about balance.

So accept what is and determine to stay elastic. Don’t push yourself to the point of breaking, but embrace the purpose that comes from being stretched.

Now, go ahead. Flip that rubber band toward the next cubicle. After all, part of being stretched is knowing when to let go and have some fun.