There's a large trunk stored away in the mind

Its sole purpose is to house the unpleasant, the worrisome, and the too-much

When the sun rises each morning, the box is innocently sitting on its shelf in the back corner of the brain

But as the day gets longer, the box gets heavier

It picks up every nagging thought and every riddling anxiety

The lock at the front of the trunk grows larger, more obtuse, until it pulls the trunk right off the shelf with the heft of it

And the trunk keeps on sucking in every exaggerated concern

These runaway thoughts get blown out of proportion and the greedy trunk pulls them in, swelling in size

Most people try to keep the lock on the trunk and ignore the weight

But once night falls, the box swells and grows at double the rate

No one is quite sure why their neck and shoulders hurt at the end of a long day —call it stress— but it's all because that trunk is growing by the second

It begins to expand, pushing up and out of that back corner — the lock pressing painfully against the cranium so that the pillow doesn't feel quite right and sleep is just out of reach

This distention pushes on throughout the night — straining at the mind and pushing out dreams — and keeps right on stretching and pushing and shoving violently

Until

Until the sun rises again and shines light into those dark spaces

Bringing sweet relief and fresh perspective for just a few hours

Everything looks better in the morning