Soul Sustenance: Too Many Rocks in My Pocket

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

The latest study on bullying shows that once a child is bullied, the damage has been done!  Kids who are bullied in grades 5-10 have a 45% chance to suffer physically/emotionally, long after bulling ends. One of the best ways to overcome “post-bullied side effects” is to use stress-monitor systems like “Too Many Rocks in your Pocket,” which helps kids recognize and confront why they’re feeling/behaving a certain way.

Too Many Rocks in Your Pocket is good for a variety of situations too. These smooth rocks with words on them such as stress, food, pain, fear, and more help kids give names to their feelings. It also makes a powerful object lesson - throughout the day, as someone experiences an incident that adds to negative feelings, they carry a rock. At the end of the day, the rocks are emptied out - providing a visual and physical reminder of the way things affect us and an effective cleaning of the slate for the next day.

When I saw them, I was actually reminded of a parable a friend used in our Bible study group. A man is given a rock to carry up the hill. It's not too big, and on his way up, a friend sees him and asks if he'll carry her rock too, since he's going that way anyway and his rock is small. This continues four or five times until he's nearing the top of the hill and is weighed down with rocks he can't bear anymore. He cries out for help, complaining to God that the rock he has is too heavy for him. God comes and says, "Where is your rock? You're carrying so many other people's burdens that it's just adding to your own. Leave the other rocks behind and carry the burdens that belong to you."

Even if you aren't religious, that's a powerful message, one that also fits in with Too Many Rocks in Your Pocket. Don't add to your stress by carrying rocks for other people.

The company makes the bullying rocks, and also has different mixes for general stress, business stress, and student stress. They also have resources and articles on stress that can be very helpful.