Spirituality: Reducing stress

When explaining stress management to an audience, a lecturer raised a glass of water and asked, “how heavy is this glass of water?”

The answers called out ranged from 20 grams to 500 grams.

The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it! If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right aarm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll probably have to call an ambulance! In each case, it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

That’s the way it is with stress and the way we manage it. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the task at hand. So, whatever your burden is... put it down...at least for a moment. You can pick it up tomorrow.

Some thoughts on the stressors of life:
* Accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet...just in case you have to eat them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
* If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* Never buy a car you can’t push.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won’t have a leg to stand on!
* Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird...sleep late! Of course, it’s the second mouse who gets the cheese in the trap! Hmmmmm
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
* You may be only one person in the world....but....you may also be the world to one person!
* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
* When everything’s coming your way....you are probably in the wrong lane
* If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments
* The repairman couldn’t repair your brakes so he made your horn louder.

I hope these ‘thoughts’ lightened your load for today; at least long enough to make you realize that there are no ‘big deals,’ only big reactions.

You can reach Sally with comments or suggestions at ssaulitis@nc.rr.com