It was a chance remark that I overheard while waiting for a plane in the Atlanta airport, yet it was like an arrow that pierced its way into my heart.
It came at the end of an extremely stressful week, and I needed to hear: "I'm too blessed to be stressed."
During the week, I'd had no big stressors like a serious illness or loss of a loved one. My activities had been very mundane. Normally I could have handled them easily except that I had taken on too many and was running out of time. Deadlines were accumulating and I was feeling overwhelmed.
What my unnamed and unknown friend reminded me was that I needed to be quiet in the midst of my chaotic week and count my blessings.
The words of an old hymn literally sang themselves through my mind: "Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." Taking time to be quiet and express gratitude enables us to calm the storms within.
There is a widely publicized scientific report that says we can release endorphins (the feel-good chemicals) into our bodies. The conclusion was that we can do three things to make this a reality: laugh heartily, practice quietness and prayer or meditation. Laughter, of course, releases the tension that accompanies stress. Quietness removes the hustle and bustle of daily living, and prayer puts us in touch with the divine.
Dr. Don Colbert lists some "stress busters" in the book "Stress Less": nutritional meals, adequate sleep (7-8 hours each night), drinking lots of water (8-10 glasses a day) and worship; he used a statistic from a medical journal that reports people who worship and pray regularly live longer. He believes it's because they are given hope and faith that overcomes worry and fear.
He also suggests that we keep strong our ties to family and friends and that we daily count our blessings. Then we'll be "too blessed to be stressed."
Contact Nell Mohney at nellwmohney@comcast.net.