Stress Management (from an e-mail I received)

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 20g to 500g.

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 that glass becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with a burden. 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."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Never carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can." Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!

And then he shared some 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 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.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
* 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. (And they make beautiful rainbows as they melt on a school radiator!)
* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

what a week!

I'm going to update...but it's for me...so I can get it all out...it's been just over a week and LOTS has happened...granted nothing that's "exciting to talk about"...

Lets see...Last Monday night I went to the ER with some chest pains...couldn't breath deep at all...felt like someone was squeezing my lungs...very painful...Doc said it was Pleurisy...got 2 doses of morphine...didn't get home from the ER till 5AM...so my sweet wonderful husband and I decided to sleep late (he took me to the ER)...When we got up around 11ish, he went and got my prescription pain pills filled (I was hurting pretty bad!!!)...He left for work around 1ish, with me promising I wouldn't drive as I took one of the pain pills...he called his mom and told her that I was to call her if I needed anything, and updated her on what was going on...and I drifted off to sleep again...slept for 2 hours or so on the couch and decided to relocate to the bed...in and out of sleep...life was good (I was on pain pills remember!)...then 3:45 my phone rang...pain pills were starting to wear off, so I answered (thinking I could deal with a tele-marketer for a few minutes, since I would get a pain pill after that...only that didn't happen!....

On the other end of the phone was my mother in law...obviously upset...she apologized several times for calling me while I was "sick" (my thoughts - I'm just in pain - not sick)...I told her she could always call me and proceeded to try to pry out of her what was wrong...That when she told me Christy was dead...*sucker punch to the gut feeling*...WHAT?!?!...thinking to myself "she was fine...I just saw her Sunday...had dinner with her Friday...she wasn't even in the hospital...snap back to the phone...she wants me to GO and tell my sweet wonderful husband...I assure her I'm on my way out the door...I threw on my clothes from the night before...and out the door I went (granted with no pain pills - so it was a LONG night!)...I drive to his work...boo hooing the whole way...trying to figure out how I tell my precious husband that his sister was dead...I made a few phone calls blubbering on my way out there...was off the phone when I got to his work...he saw me pull up, and came out with a goofy grin on his face (like he forgot that I wasn't supposed to be driving...and I was just here to surprise him)...as he got closer to the car he saw my face...opened the door and began questioning what was wrong...I couldn't talk...I just cried....he begged what's wrong...I told him it was Christy...and cried more...he had to hear the words...he asked what's wrong with Christy...I could only whisper at this point...hugging him...I whispered that she was dead...he backed away with the look of the "sucker punch" feeling I felt earlier...turned around and collapsed in the parking lot sobbing...(he was VERY close to his sister!)...his boss is also a deacon at our church...he came out and asked what was going on...I told him, and tried to console my sweetie a little... From there it was kind of a blur of family time...we left his work and went out to his parents house...and with the exception of sleeping and during the day Wednesday...we were there until Friday night late....(Wednesday I HAD to go into work for a little while - it was after all the first day of the month and I do work in accounting)...a few friends and my parents came up for the funeral...we got to spend a little time together...and then it was back to work on Monday...while it's been just over a week...it still hurts...

Christy was a fantastic person - I do miss her terribly...granted I know it's probably only a fraction of what my husband feels! It kills my soul to know that her 10 year old son will have to grow up without his mom...it's not fair! Granted I know God's in control, and he has a plan...and I know Christy was saved, so she's with Jesus now and not having to struggle with diabetes any more! And her little boy is saved too, so they will be together again! So my only sadness comes from her not being HERE anymore...I can't talk to her...I can hear her laugh...see her smile...etc...at least not for a while...

Ok - this has gotten long...and kinda sad...but I needed to get it all out of me...so now I have...and now I must get busy...

Please keep my family in your prayers at this time...ya know - something that's changed...it's not my husbands family any more...they are MY family!