The Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students “How much do you think this glass weighs?”

’50 grams!’…. ‘100 grams!’….. ‘125 grams’ …the students answered.

“I really don’t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question is:

What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”

“Nothing”, the students said.

“Okay, what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor asked.

“Your arm would begin to ache”, said one of the students.

“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to hospital for sure!” ventured another student and all the students laughed.

“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor.

“No”, was the answer.

“Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?”

The students were puzzled.

“What should I do now to come out of pain?” asked professor again.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor.

Life’s problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in the head and they seem okay. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they begin to paralyze us. We will not be able to do anything.

It’s important to think of the challenges or problems in our lives. But even more important is to ‘Put them down’ at the end of every day before we go to sleep.

That way, we are not stressed. We wake up every day fresh and strong and can handle any issue, any challenge or any problem that comes our way!

Life means problems. Challenges and problems will always be there in our lives. Only two entities do not have any problems: one is a dead body and the other is yet to be born! We have to simply learn to deal with the problems without getting bogged down by them. At the same time we have to learn to discover joy in the smallest and the most insignificant things in our lives. Otherwise our lives will be unbearable.

So, when you leave office today, remember friends to “Put the glass down today!”