a 'feel-good' post...

i feel like a million bucks today. sometimes all it takes is a new perspective. i had a three hour phone conversation on friday with a friend that really made me realize that sometimes people miss the big picture... and that drama or stress really needs to be nipped in the bud promptly before it brews until eventually blowing up. in doing so, you will be saving yourself from heartaches and headaches in your future.

fittingly enough, i recently recieved a forwarded email from my best friend janice with a cute analogy of this exact topic. so i have included that at the end of this post as well as a recent pic of brian and i over christmas break. what can i say? i know i am being slightly cheesy but i just can't help it. today i feel blessed. no specific reason why, but today seems good. and even though i am still stuck in alabama, i get to go home to brian tonight and somehow that not only makes living here worth it... but completely overshadows all the things i struggle to adjust with. this move was worth it. this man is worth it.

see, it's all about perspective.



Stress Management (cut and paste email...)

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 it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management.

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.

Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can." So, my friend, why not take a while to just simply RELAX. Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Life is short. Enjoy it!

Here are some great 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 weirdnames, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.