Carrying Life's Burden

I was emailed the message below about managing stress by my good friend and fellow Jambo Adullamite. I find the words particularly useful as this year things seem to be going from bad to worse for my family.

My elder daughter Laura was rushed into hospital at the weekend with severe stomach pains. She is presently in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh awaiting surgery to remove her gallbladder although apparently she has a gallstone particularly close to her liver and this is giving cause for concern. She goes for a scan tomorrow with a view for the operation to go ahead, hopefully, on Tuesday. Laura being Laura, her main concern is for her children and whether she will still be able to take Jack and Hannah to Euro Disney a month from now. Having spent so much money to go on the trip she doesn't want to let anyone down. In my view she will never let anyone down.

My mother, meantime, is waiting to go into hospital for tests. No date as yet but it will be quite soon and I know she is quite anxious about it. She has fainted a couple of times when out and hopefully these tests will ascertain the problem.

It's only a few weeks since the other Mrs Smith, the mother of my children, was in hospital with what was initially believed to be a heart attack. She isn't enjoying the best of health either and in addition to this she also has a medical condition that requires regular attention.

My younger daughter, Michaela, started her new job three months ago and she is working all the hours of the day to try and put systems in place to improve the service her team provides. Early starts, late finishes and working at weekends. Not an ideal situation for anyone, far less a 21 year old girl who really should be enjoying life. Her stress levels - and therefore mine - have increased greatly and like any father I worry about her welfare.

Which leaves me. Not wanting to feel left out, I am attending hospital this Tuesday for an all day 'session' where tubes, cameras and various bits and bobs will be entered into various orifices in an attempt to discover what's causing my throat problems. Coughing up blood, so they tell me, isn't a good sign. However, I'm the least of my worries and I'm sure all will be well.

But if I don't post on here for a wee while you'll perhaps understand. And be thankful!

Have a read of this...

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, let them down for a moment. Relax, pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short.