Time to put the glass down!

I get a lot of email every day, and most of it gets deleted without more than a cursory look. And I have written several times during this Lenten season about the biblical teachings about giving up worry and reducing stress.

But when my mom sent the following "parable" to my Gmail account earlier this week, I read it through to the end. I hope you will too:
 

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked his students: "How much do you think this glass weighs?"

"50 grams!" ... "100 grams!" ... "125 grams," the students answered.

" I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

"Nothing," the students said.

"OK, what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?" the professor asked.

"Your arm would begin to ache," said one of the students.

"You're right. Now what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to the hospital for sure!" ventured another student, and all the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the professor.

"No" was the answer.

"Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?"

The students were puzzled.

"What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked the professor.

"Put the glass down!" said one of the students.

"Exactly!" said the professor.

Life's problems are something like this. Hold them for a few minutes in your head and they seem OK. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold them even longer and they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.

It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to "PUT THEM DOWN" at the end of every day before you go to sleep.

That way you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!

I like and agree with this, though it's not always easy to do, of course. I have a couple of things weighing on my mind these days, and one of them -- money, or lack thereof -- is a constant stress for me. But I can only control certain aspects of this problem, and worrying constantly about it isn't going to do any good.

So as the week has progressed and the problem has seemingly gotten worse, not better, I thought about it from time to time, but when it started to make me physically sick, I knew it was time to "Put the glass down." No matter how deep the hole seems right now, I know it's only a temporary situation.

Good advice, Mom! Thanks for the reminder!