Monday, May 16, 2011

No more "Suck It Up, Cupake"?

As some of you know, I have a saying that I use at times when I think there is nothing to be done about a situation except to accept it and move on. I got it from the daughter of a close friend. "Suck it up, Cupcake," I advise myself. My friends have heard me make this pronouncement many times over a frustrating situation and some of them have started using it, too. Recently, one of my friends told me that she thinks this phrase is losing its charm. "Sometimes I feel like I'm sucking up the whole d*** cake" she explained. :-) After reading the note on stress below, I've decided to work on a new phrase. Maybe something like, "Put it down, Pop Tart!" What do you think?



How good are you at managing your stress? 
This story may be just what you need to put it all in perspective. A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked,"How heavy is this glass of water?"
The answers ranged from 20g to 500 g. 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 you're refreshed, you 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. Relax; pick them up after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!" 

I had to add these verses as well. 
Matthew 6:25-34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [7]28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So, yes, I think "Put it down, Pop-Tart" might be a nice change.