Pigeons VS Statues

Today I received an email forward from my mom, who in turn received it from her boss. This is worth sharing, so I’m going to post it here. These are NOT my words.

A young lady confidently walked around the room, with a raised glass of water, while leading and explaining stress management to an audience. Everyone knew 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 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, 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 tomorrow.

Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue! 

Back to me…

What a great lesson to learn. Last week was so crazy for me. I had several instances at work where I really had no control over the outcome and I let it get to me. I mean, Friday morning I was having a total freak out, melt down moment in my office, to my co-workers amusement. I’m a planner. Yeah I can fly by the seat of my pants but I just like to know what’s going on. Well due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to change my schedule around, then back, then around again, along with my upcoming and oh-so-needed time off from work. So you can see it was really starting to get to me. Suddenly I had a lot to do in a short amount of time and working late on a Friday and Monday aren’t things I typically enjoy doing. In the end, it will be fine and as a result, something that I do want to happen and could benefit my career. So I can appreciate that it’s a good thing. Just would have preferred it happening in a different way. My way, to be exact. What’s wrong with that?!

Stress is a killer. I have carried stress with me most of my adult life. Another reason exercise is good, it relieves said stress. Still, is there really this gigantic need for so much busyness in our lives? Which in turn leads to more stress? Of course there’s no need, yet we continue to pile it on, as if more is better. As women, we tend to take on more than we should. We don’t allow others to help us. Our burden of stress is so astronomical we are literally killing ourselves and aging much quicker than we need to.

At the end of the day, what matters most is my family. The relationships I have in my life. How I interact with people and if I am happy with the person I am, the person I am becoming. No regrets. That is the new motto of my life. Even when I make a mistake, something good always comes of it, even if it hurts. That’s why we are here, to be tested, to learn, to grow. Change is good right? Yes, the answer is yes. Change is good. And as Any Warhol said, “they always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself” so why not start now.   

What are you going to be today? A pigeon. Or a statue.