We all made them or thought about making them - New Year Resolutions. The sale of exercise equipment went up and flyers and advertising promises you freedom if you only have 15 minutes a day. Weight loss promises to ourselves.
For some of us fitting in any time for ourselves even 15 minutes just does not work, oh we have good intentions, but get to the end of the day and by then there is no energy left in our poor weary bodies, it's all we can do to breathe.
Stressed and busy are the mantra of many harried people in North America. I know because I was one of them.
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "how heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers of many weights rang out.
The lecturer replied, "The actual weight of the water does not matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not heavy. If I hold it for an hour, my arm will start to ache. If I hold it for a day, I will probably be on my way to emerge."
As we hold onto the "stuff" in our lives, the stuff that stresses us - it affects our body. The longer we stress or "hold on to it" the heavier the burdens and stress become.
"We feel stressed in our bodies, we have stress in our minds, we exist on stress and we seem unable to relieve ourselves of it. Our minds whir at a frantic pace to keep track of what we need to do. Many people cannot sleep anymore; their minds will not shut down.
We make mental lists and go over the day's events - or tomorrow's events, or even next year's events. We wake up not refreshed but in a blur because our mind is still in high gear, spinning fast and hard." (Page 118 Free to Fly)
What's the cure? You.
You need to take charge on this one. Start scheduling into your calendar a non-negotiable time for yourself; start with 15 minutes and work up. Use this time to take a walk, sit and think, enjoy a park, talk with your family, connect with people who are dear to you, read your Bible or pray. Basically take a load off and regroup.
If you are resigned to continue on and not take charge of this issue let me ask you one question that Dr. Phil has made famous - "How Is That Working For You?"