With very few words, this post and brief video has been viewed almost 1000 times, more than any other on this blog. It might say something about the level of stress in ourselves, our families, our world. Time for a reminder.
A brief but brilliant way to look at dealing with stress.
Courtesy. FineArtAmerica
vanbytheriver 
Wow, fantastic!!! I will reblog this, Van! That is amazing!!! Thank you for sharing!
Sometimes…it takes just a few words. Thanks, Erika. I loved this video. ❤️
Yes, just a simple comparison… but it says it all!
“Time of stress is time of growth!” What an insight! Please, watch this 1:31 minutes video!
Thanks for the reblog, Erika. This just spoke to me…in such a loud voice. ☺
I am so glad it did! A fantastic message to share, Van!
❤️
Very wise. I love this one. I have found it to be true, and I am glad I have been willing to feel the pain at times in order to experience the growth. Great post!
Thanks, Amy. Interesting how we “get it” in a matter of a few words. ☺
That was an amazing take on stress! It does actually make sense though that we need it in order to grow. Great post Van 🙂
It caught me by surprise, Judy, yet hit me in a pretty intense way. Thanks. ☺
Good one
I thought so too, Derrick. Thanks.☺
That man has spoken such perfect sense. Thanks for sharing this, Van.
My pleasure, Hugh. Glad you enjoyed. 💖
Good point, Van. Just a simple metaphor that stays in your mind. Maybe hiding under a rock at times (going silent) is a good thing to reflect what’s “uncomfortable” and get rid of it! Then emerge and make way for new growth! Chryssa
I also liked his attention to how we try to quickly to relieve/medicate the stress, instead of working out why it was there in the first place. Thanks, Chryssa. 💖
Yep, Van! That was my second thought, too! Thanks for including it! Chryssa 💞
💝
I’m watching someone dear and very close to be going through a “Hiding under the rock” period in their life.
I also noticed it’s a behavioral pattern, they are not doing it for the first time.
It makes sense, and I really needed to see this.
Thank you.
Glad if it helped. Best wishes to your loved one. It’s hard to know what to say sometimes. Been there. 💕
It was the first thing I saw today.
Healing potion!
It was actually an answer,
I had asked for a sign and this was the answer.
This is brilliant! very interesting thoughts! love this
Having trouble getting my comments where I want them to be. Another WordPress improvement ?? ☺
🙂
It just makes sense, doesn’t it ? Nothing like a powerful, yet simple metaphor. Thanks, Lynn. 💕
I learned in coaching school “growth never happens in the comfortable”. I also learned that when lobsters shed their shell they are at their most vulnerable .. And so are we at times for expansion and growth. We need to take care of ourselves especially then. 💛
A great point on vulnerability. Thanks, Val. 💝
I saw this recently Van, I loved it! ❤
Diana xo
I was unfamiliar with this speaker, but this was a memorable part of one of his lectures. 💖
Pingback: Free-For-All Friday! | Edwina's Episodes
Thanks, Judy. Hugs to you. 💖
Great comparison…made me think!
Me, too. ☺
“Time of stress is time of growth!”
Powerful quote!
I agree. Thanks, FC. 💖
Terrific advice. Hard to think about during those difficult moments but worth keeping that thought in front of us when we do.
I think so, George. Thanks. ☺
Grow through adversity. Love it. Nice and succinct video, too.
Sometimes the shortest lectures pack the most punch, Kitt. I really liked this one.
Thanks for helping me grow, Van!
My pleasure, Ann. Growth happens until the very end, I think. If we’re lucky. 💖
So cool
He’s a very wise man. ☺
What a cool perspective on stress! Bring it on, I’ve got some growing to do!
Don’t we all, Norah? Thanks. ☺
Very enlightening . . .
Great post!!
Thanks so much, Sadie. Sometimes…wisdom comes in simple words. ❤️
So true. We all know it, but that lobster simile, that definitive morsel of science, makes it seem more true.
PS: I wish you had email subscriptions. I apologize, I rarely use the reader anymore.
I wonder if there’s any advantage to the e mail subscriptions ? I use the Reader pretty much exclusively. I was overwhelmed by the volume of e’s.
Oh I get it. I will try to explain my thoughts on this, although I am not known for tact and I hope I am not offending anyone else — The Reader overwhelms me, because it’s a feed. I feel compelled to stay in The Reader until I am caught up, like Instagram or Facebook. *achem* But with my email, I can choose to read throughout the day, never losing my spot. It just stays there. I don’t spend FOUR HOURS reading everyone. Then now and again, I go through The Reader, see what I’ve missed and catch up on more. It has become impossible to read all the people all the time, and I’ve had to make choices. E-mail allows me to take my time, so the e-mail advantage is for me, the reader, maybe not for you, the writer 🙂
Thanks for you input…that makes sense, and the more folks I follow…the more sense it makes. ☺
Thank you for sharing. It makes sense.
My pleasure. ☺
A brilliant concept! This as you may or may not know, is one of the posts Word Press uses as your “great posts worth seeing”– and they’re right!
Thanks for the follow (I returned the favor). I look forward to getting to know you.
Hey Elyse. Thanks for letting me know. I often wonder which posts are featured there, had no idea this was one. I realized today that I’ve seen your name and comments on a few other blogs that I love, including Victo Dolore. Will be fun to follow you. 💕
I love VD’s blog (and not just so I can call a doctor VD) —
I always wonder what they say are my best blogs, so I like to tell folks. Here are the three they list:
The Gift of Stress. How Lobsters Grow.
Best in Show
A Mother’s Pain
I spend a lot of time in Maine, eating as much lobster as I can, so I opted for that one!
I’ve been doing this for a long time they have too much to choose from!
To return the favor…the 3 blogs featured for you now: The Evolution of a Worry Wart, Fasten Your Seatbelts, Separated at Birth or Spawned.
See you on the blogosphere ! ☺☺
I had found this video recently on Facebook and I too made a blog post out of it just a couple of days ago.
I found your own blog post, which was done much earlier, through Google just now.
I love the video and the thought it promotes and enjoyed reading through the comments here.
I also enjoyed hearing viewpoints on reader and email. I use both because yes, the reader can be a problem in some ways. I also have s problem with unread emails!
I’m intrigued by the featured post aspect of WordPress, since I have not come across that yet. I’ve only been blogging for a short time. How does one access that feature?
Ann
Hi Ann, thanks for the visit and comment. Those featured posts are selected by WP, maybe at random ? I’m not sure how they select them, but I know this post has had more views by far than any other of mine. Welcome !! ☺
Just sharing my own blog post here on the lobster and stress, done in April of 2016.
https://annofgg.com/2016/04/28/the-lobster-and-stress/
Thanks for the link, Ann. The actual shedding process is so interesting on those videos.
You are most welcome!
Thanks for the visit! 🙂
This is absolutely BRILLIANT. Great IMPORTANT post!!
I thought so too. It is my most viewed post ever. I should send the Rabbi a note of thanks. 💘
perfect…always try to stay soft 🙂 perfect post Van ❤
It’s a challenge, Hedy. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing! Echoes the message I share with my students (and myself). 🌿💚
Yep. Me, too. Thanks, Andrea. 💘
💖💖💖
Oh Van… This was a great share and this short video so so relevant .. We are now all of us in need of taking heed of these wise words.
Love and Hugs my friend xxx 🙂 xxx
Glad you can appreciate its relevance, Sue. Thanks. 💕
❤
I’m glad you re-posted this. It dovetails with something my father-in-law is famous for saying “People will not change unless the situation is bad enough.”
Which makes you wonder some times, how bad does it need to get?
Here in the U.S., I’m concerned we are about to find out, Maggie. I hope it leads to positive change. Fingers crossed.
As do I.
Wow- brilliant! I love, love, love this video! Thank you for sharing this truth with us!!!! 😍😍😍
My pleasure, it’s a beauty ! 💗
LOVE this, Van!!! I could not agree more and in fact I am always saying my Life in general is outside of my Comfort Zone and that is why I seem to zoom forward so fast. I’m a fast learner. Yes stress hurts and yiveh it is uncomfortable! I do not like it. Yes stress can make us ill IF we allow it to. It is all in our attitude on how we “react” toward the stress. The picture of how a lobster grows will be in my mind for a long time. Thank you SO much for posting this again!!! (((HUGS))) >3
Glad you understand, Amy, and enjoyed the video. I was happy to post this one again. Short, but powerful. 💕
Love this analogy to life Van 💕 We have so much to learn in a new way…. even when it comes from older sages!
A lifelong process, Val. 💘
Thank you for this, Van. 💐✨
It speaks to so many of us, Julie. 💘
Loved this 🙂
Thanks so much. 💗
Wonderful! thanks for sharing van
Quite welcome, Lynn. 💖
Oh my – I did need this message today Van! Thank you for the great reminder to hang in there and grow! #shepersisted
You’re so welcome, and may we all persist, AGMA. 💘
how refreshing was this….thx, Van
times of stress are times for growth….
and to use adversity properly –
and all with the analogy of a lobster…
Most welcome..glad you took something away from it. 💘
and don’t we need more and more talk about the “value” of adversity? also, so nice to see a rabbi talking – quite different for me.
have you ever read the children’s book where the rabbi helps a man to appreciate his everyday life –
It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale (Zemach, 1990) – it is pretty cool because the rabbi helps this complaining man by having him bring all the animals into his home. by the end of the story – the rabbi tells him to let the animals out and his house is quite and peaceful. It is the same exact atmosphere as it was at the start of the book = but the man’s view is now changed – he appreciates again – ahhhh- all about the outlook.
Fascinating, for sure, thanks for the reference…I was not familiar. And it seems so right…it has always been about the outlook.
🙂
A topic made perfectly clear with an excellent presentation.
great post Van
Thanks, Eddie. 💖
Highly motivating message. When we harness our stress properly, we grow. I guess it means a lot miss out on the opportunity because instead of growing through the process they search for quick Dr. Fix-it.
It works for common stresses we face every day, J. Serious mental health issues..not so much. We are a very medicated culture, with mixed results. Thanks.
Well that was the pause that refreshes! Thanks for sharing it. Very timely.
I thought it was timely. Thanks, Ilona. 💘
Wonderful and timely. Thank you for sharing, Van. 🙂
My pleasure, Tonya…some of my comments were stuck in ‘limbo’.
😊
“Times of stress are also times that are signals for growth.” We tend to tense up and constrict when under stress. Seems relaxing and letting go is lot more productive! Nature has a lot to teach us 🙂
Always, if we are wise enough to notice. Thanks, Tina.
Reblogged this on Aui's Den.
Pingback: The Gift of Stress. How Lobsters Grow. – Aui's Den
Thanks so much for the reblog, Aui.
I love how short this is! What a powerful message.
My summary: Times of stress are we need to use for growth. Use adversity properly so you can grow through it. When things feel uncomfortable, don’t take a pill (although you may need one), see if you can learn and grow from the situation.
All wonderful take home messages. I love it! Thanks for sharing!
Message received. Nicely done, Ipuna. Thanks. ❤️
Thank you! Me and my taking notes. Ha ha. ❤️