During a stress management course a woman was walking round the room with a glass of water in her hand. When she raised it, her listeners thought she was going to ask the old question: ‘Is this glass half empty or half full?’ But no, she surprised them by saying: ‘How heavy do you think is this glass of water?’
The answers varied from eight to twenty ounces. Shaking her head, the lady replied: ‘The actual weight of the water in this glass does not really matter here. I am only using it in comparison with the emotional/spiritual weight of anything we carry around with us. The heaviness of this kind of load depends on the way we tackle our lives, the problems that arise along the way and how long we do something. It’s the same with this glass. If I hold it up for just a minute, there’s no problem. But if I do this for an hour, I wind up with an aching arm. If I’d hold it for a day, it might be necessary to call an ambulance for me. Although the weight in each case is the same, the longer I carry it the heavier it feels to me.
It’s the same with stress. If we carry a burden for too long, it becomes heavier and heavier, until we feel so weak that we can no longer carry anything. The same as with my glass of water, it is necessary to every so often put down for a while any load we have to carry, so we can rest until we feel sufficiently refreshed to tackle the task before us once more. The more we practise this guarding ourselves against the stress element, the better we become at it. So, in future learn to refuse to carry any of your burdens through the evening and into the night. Make an effort at leaving them behind, so you can pick them up in the morning when in dreamtime your mind and body have been refreshed.
Also during the day, whatever you may be loaded up with, from time to time let everything go for a moment and relax. When you are sufficiently rested, pick things up again. And do not forget to remind yourself frequently that a lifetime on the Earth can be very short indeed and that each one of them is a precious gift from the Universe that is meant to be cherished by us. Through learning to handle the stress in our lives in sensible ways, life becomes much more enjoyable. It enables us to make the most of every minute for growing in wisdom and understanding and thus fulfilling the ultimate purpose of our earthly existence.
Created by Anon.
Edited by Aquarius
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United Kingdom • 87 years old