Stress Management Tips

Everyone occasionally has to deal with stress, especially when starting up a business like Dr. Bruce Meleski and I are doing with Intelligent Sleep. So this week, with his permission, I’m sharing this great story from Jeffrey Fry and his 15 Stress Management Tips.

When explaining stress management to an audience, a lecturer raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Answers called out ranged from 6 ounces to 24 ounces, but the lecturer replied that, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to 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 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 management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, the burden will become increasingly heavy … and 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, or go to bed, or go out, put the burden of work down; don’t carry it with you anymore today. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.”

So, my friend, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now — your work, family, job, life, love, whatever. Don’t pick it up again until after you’ve rested awhile.

Stress Management Tips

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life and managing stress:

1. Just accept that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue.
2. Always keep your words soft and sweet – just in case you have to eat them.
3. Always wear stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of – – whatever!
4. Drive carefully. It’s not only cars that can be “recalled” by their maker.
5. If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it probably was worth it.
7. It may be that your “soul” purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
8. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time; you won’t have a leg to stand on.
9. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
10. Since it’s the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, make sure you sleep late.
11. The second mouse gets the cheese.
12. When everything’s coming your way, you’re either in the wrong lane or going the wrong way.
13. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
14. 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.
15. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour

Related Articles

• Stress Reduction (whiteboard video)
• Reduce Stress and Get a Better Night’s Rest
• Is Your Glass Half Empty, or Half Full?
• The Costs of Job Stress
• Redefining Success – The Third Metric
• It’s Time to Take Care of Yourself
• The Underestimated Caregiver Burden