Thursday, November 30, 2017
The Weight of the Glass
Once upon a time a psychology professor walked around on a
stage while teaching stress management principles to an auditorium filled with
students. As she raised a glass of
water, everyone expected they’d be asked the typical “glass half empty or glass
half full” question. Instead, with a
smile on her face, the professor asked, “How heavy is this glass of water I’m
holding?”
Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a
couple pounds.
She replied, “From my perspective, the absolute weight of
this glass doesn’t matter. It all
depends on how long I hold it. If I hold
it for a minute or two, it’s fairly light.
If I hold it for an hour straight, its weight might make my arm ache a
little. If I hold it for a day straight,
my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me
to drop the glass to the floor. In each
case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the
heavier it feels to me.”
As the class shook their heads in agreement, she continued,
“Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing
happens. Think about them a bit longer
and you begin to ache a little. Think
about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed –
incapable of doing anything else until you drop them.”
The moral: It’s
important to remember to let go of your stresses and worries. No matter what happens during the day, as
early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the night and into
the next day with you. If you still feel
the weight of yesterday’s stress, it’s a strong sign that it’s time to put the
glass down.
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