Coping with Stress

Coping with Stress

"I can't cope with the stress!"  "Life is a burden!"  Do you catch yourself thinking these things? Or saying them? Stress is a natural part of life. You've heard it before - if they were no stress a bridge would not be able to stand strong. Easy if you're a bridge. Not as easy for people. How can a glass of water help clarify the impact of stress?

The speaker explained stress management to his audience by raising a glass of water and asking, "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."

Great Ways to Deal with Life's Stress Burdens:

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
Always read stuff that will 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 that person again, it was probably worth it.
It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
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.
(more suggestions to come next week!)

Prayer: Everlasting God, help us to use stress wisely: not to burn out, but to prevent rusting out.  Let us listen to your guidance for us to carry our burdens only for the amount of time you desire of us.  You are the great healer and we would do well to listen to your wise words to us. AMEN