How heavy is this glass of water? – Stress Management

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 4:35 pm

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 1/2oz to 2oz.

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 wear stuff that will make you look good in case you have to die in it.
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.
Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird,
sleep late.
Birthdays are good for you.
The more you have, the longer you live.
You may be only one person in the world,
but you may also be the world to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
We could learn a lot from crayons … some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull,
some have weird names and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
A truly happy person is one who enjoys the scenery on a detour.