A motivational speaker walked confidently around the room holding a glass of water while leading a seminar on stress management.
Everyone guessed she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘Half empty or half full?’ She fooled them all. “How heavy is this glass of water?” she inquired with a smile. Answers called out ranged from eight ounces to 20 ounces.
She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I 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.”
She continued, “And that’s the way it is with stress. 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 – holding stress longer and better each time practiced.
So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night. Pick them up again tomorrow if you must.
A few things to remember…
- Accept the fact 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 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 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.
- 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.
- Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
- We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
- A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
- Save the earth….. It’s the only planet with chocolate!
We all know that life is the best educator. Simply its never to late to begin again.
Every day the challenge is for us all to see the glass half full. The more we grow in our inner journey the greater we will notice the beauty and gift that is is this moment.
I love the following poem “Begin”. These November days are short and winter darkness brings its own challenge so be positive, calm and mindful.
Begin Again
Begin again to the summoning birds
to the sight of light at the window,
begin to the roar of morning traffic
all along Pembroke Road.
Every beginning is a promise
born in light and dying in dark
determination and exaltation of springtime
flowering the way to work.
Begin to the pageant of queuing girls
the arrogant loneliness of swans in the canal
bridges linking the past and the future
old friends passing through with us still.
Begin to the loneliness that cannot end
since it perhaps is what makes us begin,
begin to wonder at unknown faces
at crying birds in the sudden rain
at branches stark in the willing sunlight
at seagulls foraging for bread
at couples sharing a sunny secret
alone together while making good.
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.
SEE ALSO – Fr Paddy: How to handle adversity
