On the very bottom of my popup cards I now cut off a long sliver in the shape of a triangle, with altitude of a quarter-inch and base of 11 inches.

Why, you ask?

So that my popup card recipient has the option of setting the card on a shelf, without falling down.

It turns out that sliver of missing popup card enables the card to “sit back on itself,” thereby counterbalancing the weight of whatever pictures I have attached to the card. Neat!

I no longer have to hot glue metal washers to the bottom inside of a card to keep it balanced on a shelf. I no longer have to add extra postage for the weight of those metal washers.

I am really amazed at how such a sliver of cut-off paper can bring about a balance of such a heavy popup card.

How in the world did I come to this discovery for balancing my popups? I bent down, looked and looked at the way the card sat. I knew the card was “front-heavy.” That was why it was toppling over on the shelf. Then it came to me: I could compensate for the front-heaviness by having the card tilt backwards only slightly. I could create the backward tilt by cutting off just a bit of the bottom center of the card. The missing sliver of triangle was the balance solution.

Hey, I wonder if there’s an analogy here? Couldn’t we cut off a quarter-inch of something so that our life would be more balanced?

• Cut off a bit of our agitation – and bring about a balance of calmness.
• Cut off a bit of our unhappiness – and bring about a balance of cheerfulness.
• Cut off a bit of our hatefulness – and bring about a balance of lovingness.
• Cut off a bit of envy – and bring about a balance of contentedness.
• Cut off a bit of worry – and bring about a balance of peace.
• Cut off a bit of fear – and bring about a balance of confidence.
• Cut off a bit of distrust – and bring about a balance of belief.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at robertebsen@hotmail.com