October 15, 2011

We Can Learn a Lot from Crayons

A dear friend from my college days (and we were pregnant twice together. Our first children are one week apart and our second children are two months apart!) sent this to me. It's great. Thanks, Beth!

Enjoy!

*****

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

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, put them down for a moment. Relax, pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"

1. Accept the fact 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 read stuff that makes you feel good..
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 was probably worth it..
7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8. Never buy a car you can't push.
9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance..
11. Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late..
12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
13. When everything's coming your way,  you're in the wrong lane.
14. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15. You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17. 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.
 
18. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

*****

Stress advice? Witty or helpful, either will make my day. Happy Saturday!

16 comments:

K.T. Hanna said...

Wow, I think I'm overemotional today, because that almost had me in happy tears. Thank you for sharing that with us, and thank your friend.

Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded of the simpler things in life and how difficult we sometimes make it for ourselves to enjoy it.

Thank you, again.

Lynne Favreau said...

Your post is striking me as so apropos this morning, esp. #18 "A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour." Tomorrow, my husband and I will be celebrating our 18th anniversary and I've been having trouble finding the words that sum up the last 23 years. Until now. One of our constants, is getting lost, neither one of us has a very good sense of direction. I can't even look a map without getting nausea. But, rarely have we let our detours in life get the best of us. His warmth, sense of humor and go-with-the-flow attitude has always gotten us back on track, safe and happy. Thanks for the inspiration!

Tia Bach said...

K.T. & Hanna, I'm glad this touched both of you. It touched me, too, and I was so grateful my friend sent it to me.

I only wish I knew who to credit!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are both having a lovely weekend.

Dena Hamilton said...

Very good advice! Crayons are a favorite analogy of mine. Favorite crayon saying: "I am so glad that God had more than one crayon in His box!" God bless!

Tia Bach said...

I used to feel weird that I didn't have a favorite color, especially once my kids started asking me everyday. Now I say with pride, "I really like all the colors!"

Thanks for visiting, Dena!

Melinda said...

I love the ideas in this post. Need to rethink how I see things -- and put my glass down more often, Thanks!

Tia Bach said...

Thanks, Melinda. I learned so much from this, and usually I disregard email forwards. Glad I didn't.

Appreciate you stopping by.

bookworm said...

This came at just the right time for me. #7 really made me laugh out loud, thank you. I hope #7 is not true of me!

Tia Bach said...

Alana, #7 could NEVER be you. ;-)

superiorwebcontent said...

Thank you, thank you and thank you. This couldn't have come at a better time.

Mary C. Nasser said...

Wonderful post!
I really enjoyed this...especially what we learn from crayons. :)

All the best,
Mary
Mary C. Nasser Art Blog

Tia Bach said...

I'm so thrilled that people resonated with this as much as I did. Passing it along made my day!

Thanks for all the comments!

Lynn Dorman, Ph.D. said...

Thank you - I too have gotten this list in emails - but it bears repeating [lots of repeating] Note to self - copy and put on board :-)
Lynn

Tia Bach said...

Thanks, Lynn. A great idea... I need this taped on my frig to be used as a daily mantra for myself, hubby, and our three girls!

Thanks for stopping by!

Laura said...

Love this post like so many others! Here is one I'd like to share: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift, that is why it is called the present." - Master Oogway in the movie Kung Fu Panda (not sure where the quote originated)

Tia Bach said...

Thanks, Laura. Everything important I learn these days come from kid movies and kid products like crayons. Guess that's your main source of information as a Mom! ;-)