Busy is a choice,
Stress is a choice,
Joy is a choice
We all have choices and we need to be careful what we choose.
I am not sure what are the right parameters of Stress. Some stress is good for us to be alert and creative. But then who has ascertained the percentage of stress which is good. Each person has a different level of stress which can be handled by them. There are millions of website and stress management classes helping people combat their stress and telling them how to de stress themselves.
What is Stress? Where does this phenomenon come from? Medically there are lots of documents on stress, there is enough and more written about this topic. We all know about how chronic stress can lead to depression and how it effects our body and health.
So i ask you this again what is stress ?
Is it the flutter one has when there is a deadline? or is it the hyper breathing one has when a bill needs to be paid and there is low balance in the bank? Is it the stomach pain in expectation of good marks for students and parents? Or is it the cold sweat of expectation of job or promotion? There are so many more such symptoms which i can list, which in one form or another bring this stress in our life. If i look into this, all this is our expectations which await a desired result by us, which leads to certain symptoms. So is it our desires and expectation, giving rise to a symptom called Stress?
If we look closely and access then we realise that most of these symptoms can be avoided. But then the human nature of desires and wants will not be happy. My desire to have more than my earning capacity is one level of stress, my pending bills with less balance in bank is another level of stress, my promotion with too much of competition is third level of stress, my job security is as good as i work is forth level, my need to be accepted by my peers and friends is fifth level.... the list keeps building and levels keep getting added as our desires are endless.
I have seen people eating like crazy while in stress, thats where stress food terminology came in. Many companies made a killing by generating stress foods for the desired hungry people. While these companies made profits, people kept building their thick waists. Every inch gained put additional money in the fast food and snacks balance. Some how we seem to be highly indisciplined in nature. We just cannot control neither our desires nor our taste buds. But i have also seen the extreme cases of dieting too. To gain a size zero figure many females will not eat anything, many become anorexic in leu of thinking they look beautiful. Well beauty lies in the eyes of beholder, and a healthy body which does sports and eat healthy is way more beautiful than anorexic stressed body.
My work used to be highly stressful. I used to feel i was on a perpetual roller coaster of high's , low's, anger leading to madness and then calm for a second and again the crazy cycle would start. Everyday was a learning of how to stress myself more. Initially i was hyper ventilating and the day i realised
that if i need to be stressed then it will be my stress and my way. Guess this chain of thought worked wonders for me. All of a sudden i was less stressful and passion was infused in my work. Strangely i was not stressed like i used to anymore. Slowly the stress started disappearing and fun at work and fun at finding solutions than problems became my mantra. I realised i can only do so much and there is no way i would like to stress over things which i cannot change.
I am not someone who can diet, i love cheese and breads. Therefore i went to my first love of running everyday in morning to combat any stress which i felt at work. This really helped me big way. No stress eating ever happened other than occasional chips. More the stress , more i spent time running and in gym. The product of this was that while i was at work i was neither over weight nor was anorexic but healthy and fine. Funny part is i often used to say if stress burned calories i would have been supermodel. But in reality thanks to stress i never gained weight. My fitness regime also ensured that i had no medical problem of diabetes , high cholesterol or any chest pains which is again a by product of dull stressful life.
I personally have no problem with stress, as its not stress leading my life but i choose to have stress when ever i need a creative side kick in life. As i said, my stress-my way. Meditation helped me in understanding my stress triggers. My fears were many and i came to accept them. To transform my mindset, i worked very hard on being non judgemental and neutral to any situation. Through these disciplined thought pattern i learned to be confident to take chances in my life. I worked hard on my perceptions, as past fears, rejections and hurt does not go away easily. It was discipline and focus which led me through the darkest phase of high stress for me.
Today i know that stress is a by product of what i want in life and is more a friend than an harmful enemy. Its how we look at a situation, either we rise to meet the challenge or we submit ourselves without giving ourselves an opportunity to excel.
Sometimes life hits you with a brick. Don't lose faith and don't stress over things.
Someday a breakup is eminent between the old thinking and new way of life.
Stress is a choice,
Joy is a choice
We all have choices and we need to be careful what we choose.
I am not sure what are the right parameters of Stress. Some stress is good for us to be alert and creative. But then who has ascertained the percentage of stress which is good. Each person has a different level of stress which can be handled by them. There are millions of website and stress management classes helping people combat their stress and telling them how to de stress themselves.
What is Stress? Where does this phenomenon come from? Medically there are lots of documents on stress, there is enough and more written about this topic. We all know about how chronic stress can lead to depression and how it effects our body and health.
So i ask you this again what is stress ?
Is it the flutter one has when there is a deadline? or is it the hyper breathing one has when a bill needs to be paid and there is low balance in the bank? Is it the stomach pain in expectation of good marks for students and parents? Or is it the cold sweat of expectation of job or promotion? There are so many more such symptoms which i can list, which in one form or another bring this stress in our life. If i look into this, all this is our expectations which await a desired result by us, which leads to certain symptoms. So is it our desires and expectation, giving rise to a symptom called Stress?
If we look closely and access then we realise that most of these symptoms can be avoided. But then the human nature of desires and wants will not be happy. My desire to have more than my earning capacity is one level of stress, my pending bills with less balance in bank is another level of stress, my promotion with too much of competition is third level of stress, my job security is as good as i work is forth level, my need to be accepted by my peers and friends is fifth level.... the list keeps building and levels keep getting added as our desires are endless.
I have seen people eating like crazy while in stress, thats where stress food terminology came in. Many companies made a killing by generating stress foods for the desired hungry people. While these companies made profits, people kept building their thick waists. Every inch gained put additional money in the fast food and snacks balance. Some how we seem to be highly indisciplined in nature. We just cannot control neither our desires nor our taste buds. But i have also seen the extreme cases of dieting too. To gain a size zero figure many females will not eat anything, many become anorexic in leu of thinking they look beautiful. Well beauty lies in the eyes of beholder, and a healthy body which does sports and eat healthy is way more beautiful than anorexic stressed body.
My work used to be highly stressful. I used to feel i was on a perpetual roller coaster of high's , low's, anger leading to madness and then calm for a second and again the crazy cycle would start. Everyday was a learning of how to stress myself more. Initially i was hyper ventilating and the day i realised
that if i need to be stressed then it will be my stress and my way. Guess this chain of thought worked wonders for me. All of a sudden i was less stressful and passion was infused in my work. Strangely i was not stressed like i used to anymore. Slowly the stress started disappearing and fun at work and fun at finding solutions than problems became my mantra. I realised i can only do so much and there is no way i would like to stress over things which i cannot change.
I am not someone who can diet, i love cheese and breads. Therefore i went to my first love of running everyday in morning to combat any stress which i felt at work. This really helped me big way. No stress eating ever happened other than occasional chips. More the stress , more i spent time running and in gym. The product of this was that while i was at work i was neither over weight nor was anorexic but healthy and fine. Funny part is i often used to say if stress burned calories i would have been supermodel. But in reality thanks to stress i never gained weight. My fitness regime also ensured that i had no medical problem of diabetes , high cholesterol or any chest pains which is again a by product of dull stressful life.
I personally have no problem with stress, as its not stress leading my life but i choose to have stress when ever i need a creative side kick in life. As i said, my stress-my way. Meditation helped me in understanding my stress triggers. My fears were many and i came to accept them. To transform my mindset, i worked very hard on being non judgemental and neutral to any situation. Through these disciplined thought pattern i learned to be confident to take chances in my life. I worked hard on my perceptions, as past fears, rejections and hurt does not go away easily. It was discipline and focus which led me through the darkest phase of high stress for me.
Today i know that stress is a by product of what i want in life and is more a friend than an harmful enemy. Its how we look at a situation, either we rise to meet the challenge or we submit ourselves without giving ourselves an opportunity to excel.
Sometimes life hits you with a brick. Don't lose faith and don't stress over things.
Someday a breakup is eminent between the old thinking and new way of life.
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