I recently received one of those emails that circulates the Internet offering up cute words of wisdom – specifically on the weight of stress.  This particular one struck a strong chord with me because it is perfectly aligned with my own philosophy of self care: small regular steps prevent long term build up that leads to crisis points of pain, illness, and disease. 

This ties in perfectly to the theme of my October Ezine of “Doing the Daily Dance of Self Care”.  Tell me what you think when you get the Ezine – and if you’re not getting the monthly installment of Healing and Harmony, sign up at my website www.jamiedurner.com.   And in the meantime, enjoy these words of wisdom on the weight of stress.

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.