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 20 g to 500 g. 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. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.


Before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* 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 to serve as a warning 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.

* 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 only make 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 colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

We all know how estrangement has added even more stress to our busy lives.  At times our estrangement seems to hang over our heads and occupy our minds 24 hours a day.  Some of us wake up at night thinking about it.  It affects our focus, so much at times, we cannot accomplish our daily responsibilities.   Also, consider the fact that it can greatly affect our health, not only physically, but mentally as well. 

Many physical doctors and therapists recommend deep breathing exercises, yoga, meditating, or just taking some time out from your busy day to block out all negative thoughts.  Adding a walking or other exercise program to this can greatly reduce your stress and anxiety and lead to a healthier you.    The following link will take you to a website that is free and offers some very beneficial breathing techniques with calming affects.