“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question.
Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired, “How heavy is this glass of water?” 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, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”
It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses, upsets, and anything that doesn’t feel good to you as early as you can. Put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them throughout your day or even an hour or more than the few moments it takes to notice that you are feeling in a way you don’t want.
Remember to put the glass down!”
Kathy Hadley explains stress management very well. The longer you hold onto the stress, the more it is going to drag you down. It does not matter if the stress seems to feel like nothing at first. Holding onto it for hours, days, weeks, or even months will make it grow into something more serious.
Stressing will cause a domino effect. If you are stressed about the family, you will not be able to focus in class. If you aren’t having effect learning in class, grades will start to slip. Once grades start to slip, you might not be eligible to play basketball anymore. Start worrying about grades, family, and basketball, you won’t be able to focus during practice/games.
“Putting the glass down” means that you have removed the stress causer, learned how to deal with it, or decided to remove yourself until you have figure out how to deal with the stresser.
The easiest way to manage stress is to talk it out, relaxing techniques (yoga, meditation, progressive relaxation, imagery, biofeedback, and autogenic training), time management, become organized, have a good support system.
#KathyHadleyMindset