How Heavy Is Your Glass?

I didn’t write this story, but read it on Facebook and wanted to share it.  It’s a perspective on life that I think we all know deep down, but forget in the day-to-day chaos of living.  It goes like this:

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it.   If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem.   If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm.   If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed.   In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” 

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water.  Think about them for a while and nothing happens.  Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt.   And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

 

I think it’s such a great reminder that it doesn’t matter whether the glass is half empty or half full… what matters is that any burden carried long enough will have negative effects.  To be healthy we have to learn to set the glass down…to step away from the stresses of our day.

What are you holding onto?  How heavy is your glass?   ~