放下玻璃杯 Put the glass down

 　　A lecturer was giving a lecture to his student on stress management. He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, ”How heavy do you think this glass of water is?”

　　The students’ answers ranged from 20g to 500g.

　　“It does not matter on the absolute¹ weight. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

　　“If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden becoming increasingly² heavier.

　　“What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again.”

　　We have to put down the burden periodically³, so that we can be refreshed⁴ and are able to carry on.

　　So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don’t carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow.

　　Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for moment if you can.

　　Life is short, enjoy it!!

1 absolute   

adj.十足的；绝对的；不受任何限制的

参考例句：

• The first year of the course was an absolute doddle.第一年的课程简单极了。
• I look upon this as an absolute necessity.我认为这是绝对必要。

2 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

3 periodically   

ad.周期性地，定期地

参考例句：

• The geyser erupts periodically. 间歇泉周期性地喷发。
• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。

4 refreshed   

v.使恢复，使振作( refresh的过去式和过去分词 )；使…记起；重新斟满；爽快

参考例句：

• The long sleep had refreshed her. 一场酣睡使她重又精力充沛。
• I awoke feeling rested and refreshed. 我睡醒后感觉精力充沛，神清气爽。