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feeling like a statue....

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

An e-mail from a friend:


A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. 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 arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.' He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. 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 burden. ''So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. ''Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.

So my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens 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.
* Remember to fill your senses with something uplifting: Music you love, a gorgeous sunset, a really great meal, passionate kisses, a heart to heart conversation with someone you care about.
*Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
*If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
*If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
*It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
*Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
*It's the second mouse that gets the cheese.
*When everything 's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
*Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
*Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
*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.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

or maybe I'm the first mouse?

5 comments:

m said...

Dana, I LOVED this. Thank you for sharing! What a great point about the water in the glass. Today feels like a day that I am taking a break. And it feels so good.

This is my favorite line. I think I'm going to stick it on my wall: *If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague." as a reminder to myself, of course.

Jen J said...

AMEN!

I should print this post off and put it up on my wall. Probably when I get home - if I do it at work it will show up in the community printer & someone else might get the words of wisdom!

=)

Thanks! I needed that!

dana said...

M, I printed that line out and hung it on the bulletin board in my office...ha! 'twas my fav, too.

Jen, you're welcome sweetie. I thought you'd appreciate it today. ;)

Rose said...

I love this post. It's the perfect antidote to my own. I especially liked the first paragraph. That's exactly hat it is. the carrying of those small burdens day after day after day with no respite.

Joelle said...

Love this too! Love that "not only cars can get recalled by the maker."

Might steal it for my blog as well...if you don't mind.