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I have shared this story before but I’ve had lots of requests for it.

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 a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my 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 are carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax. Pick them up later after you have rested.” Don’t worry they will be just where you left them. Life is short, take some time to enjoy it.

The lecturer then shared some ways of dealing with life:

• Accept that some days you’re the pigeon and some you’re the statue
• Always keep your words soft and sweet in case you have to eat them
• Read stuff that’ll make you look good if you die in the middle of it
• 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 them again, it was a bargain
• It may just be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others
• Never buy a car you can’t push
• Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time because you won’t have a leg to stand on
• Nobody cares if you can’t dance well, just get up and dance
• Since the early worm gets eaten by the bird, sleep late
• The second mouse 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
• 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 only make once
• We can 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. And they do it well.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy a detour.

I wish I knew who the clever person was who said all that, but I confess that I am a person who lives with stress. That makes me one of 300 million in this country alone. The trick is how you live with it that will not only let you live long, but also enjoy the ride.

So I’m backing the gym with my trainer trying to get healthy, back to eating the Dr. Ann way and trying to keep balance in my life. One way to do that is to thank the people who have made an important contribution to my life. So I thank each and every one of you who have touched my life in large or small ways because I am a better person for it. Thank you.

Filed under: Life Tips on March 28th, 2008