Stress Shouldn’t Stress You

Yesterday I sat in a taxi heading to Jinja super exhausted and stressed. Surprisingly the universe seemed to reflect my mood, it was cloudy and the taxi was very silent. All the passengers seemed to be lost in thought including the conductor which was strange because those ninjas are always talking.

I took the backseat next to an old man who kept gazing at me until I found it annoying and I asked him what was going on.

In his response which spanned almost over the entire journey this old man whom I came to know as Mtanda told me a familiar story; but being told by a different person with different circumstances it made much more sense especially in my fatigued state.

Mr. Mtanda opened his bag, got out a notebook and picked out a postcard. He then put his notebook back in the bag and held the postcard. Raising it up he asked me how heavy I thought it weighed. I was confused, but I managed to muffle

“May be 2 ounces”.

By now I couldn’t figure what this man was getting to.  We moved a few kilometers but he didn’t look like he was about to put the card down, he noticed I was looking at him, smiled and told me,

“it is never about the weight.”

“The absolute weight of the postcard card doesn’t matter, it is how long you can hold it that matters. Honestly the card is very light but I can’t hold it straight up to Jinja because my arm would hurt and probably get paralyzed. Does this mean the weight of the card increases? No, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels.”

“Our stresses and worries in life are like this postcard. The longer you think about them the heavier they get. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache and get uneasy, think about them the whole day and you will feel numb and incapable of doing anything constructive, a few more days and you will eventually fall into a depression but all for what? You are too young to break down with worry, live and let live.   Always rely on God because he is at work in your life.” Mr kintu said.

“This doesn’t mean you don’t face your challenges, am only saying you can face them without worrying yourself sick. Because worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength ” He said

Moral of the Story; Always remember to let go of your stresses and worries. No matter what happens during the day, learn to put your worries down. Carrying them through the night to the next day doesn’t mean you have solved them, it is a sign that you need to put the postcard down because worrying is never the solution after all.