1 Corinthians 7:29-31

29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

I'm sure we have all had a stressful job at one point or another. If you have ever had the good fortune of leaving such a situation, maybe you experienced a change in the way you viewed the job once you gave your notice to leave. Once you realized the situation was going to be very temporary, I am guessing that the pressures that once drove you crazy no longer seemed all that important. This occurred not necessarily because you no longer cared, but possibly because the fear of failure and the ambition for recognition were no longer driving your motives. In fact, in the absence of this pressure, you may have found yourself during this brief period with a new perspective, becoming a better leader, making better decisions and actually enjoying the job for the first time in a long time. This may have even made you second guess your decision to move on.

I think this is the persepective that Paul is advocating in these verses from 1 Corinthians. He is encouraging us to remember how temporary this phase of life is, and to avoid the needless stresses and other kinds of traps that can result from thinking that our current status is permanent. This way, we can avoid the thinking that we are solely responsible for dedicating all of our resources to changing our situation immediately if we are unhappy or protect it for all we are worth if we are happy.