Don't let stress get to you...

In every home in India – urban or rural – the ominous clouds of tension, impatience, stress and temper are threatening familial or friendly relationships apart from destroying the health and peace of mind of all those are working hard for their goals in life. A casual look around you these days will show an alarming rise of stress-related illnesses among all classes of urban and rural India.

More and more people are becoming victims of ailments because of the high levels of stress they go through at work and at home. What then, are the steps all of us should take to save ourselves from this fearful stress level to save our health and happiness? Many expert trainers and social engineering experts have suggested seven quick steps that may be useful in keeping stress out of our lives. Here they are enumerated in brief so that each person looking for a solution to his or her stress can pick the right path to a smooth, enjoyable future without being edgy every working day or every tense situation.

Identify the cause of your stress.
Judge correctly and put that cause out of your mind.
Time is precious. Use it to bring peace into your life.
Throw out worry. It does not help to accomplish a job. Solutions are infinitely more rewarding than worry.
Accept your failures and find another way up the success ladder.
Enjoy ‘me time’ as often as you can to relax and enjoy life.
Once you have mastered these six quick solutions, it is time to redesign your life.

Here are detailed tips from experts:

Each morning, as you wake up, sit quietly in your bed and make a plan for the day. See that you add activities that you enjoy or those that leave pleasant impressions on your mind. Make mini resolutions about the day’s activities so that you can weed out the tendency to expect something going wrong. Be in tune with nature and let the peace of the morning trickle slowly down your spine. Carry this freshness all through the day.

Be choosy in being close friends with people. Do not seek the company of colleagues who are pessimists, who run down everyone and find the world a ‘terrible place to live in’. Make sure you seek the company of people who smile, laugh and appreciate lighter moments in life. If you find that a friendship is not working, be confident to cut it out or leave it behind as time passes.

Caring about people – especially our loved ones – should not end in us being obsessively worried. Love should be peaceful and productive. In fact, being obsessive about anything in life is a stress-builder.

Do not stay alone for a long time. We humans are designed to live and laugh in groups and families. Share the good and bad moments of your life, speak out honestly with close friends or family to understand that your life is shared with the right people. Relax, so that you create a pool of peace around you and whoever is with you.

Spend half an hour each day meditating. Choose your favourite place to sit while you meditate. A few minutes of solitude does everyone good.

Don’t fix impossible goals for yourself. If you have missed out or lost some points in life, leave them behind and do not fret. There is always another hill to climb. Manage your schedule and time very well so that you accomplish all things listed by you.

Physical exercise is guaranteed to create a pool of peace in your heart. Walk or do suitable exercises in a pleasant garden or open space. See the rising sun and the golden glow on the horizon. Close your eyes and be ‘with nature’ for some quiet moments and take home your treasure of peace.

Practice the famous ‘C’s as far as possible in life to earn your peace and contentment. Be ‘compassionate’ to all those whom you see suffering. Be in ‘control’ of yourself and your speech –— do not hurt or ‘criticise’ others to make yourself look big. Try not to be anxious about events — especially health and relationship issues in life. When you cannot design the flow of life and nature, leave them to the divine power which will do whatever is correct for that time and that person.

Be ‘communicative’ and ‘co-operative’ with that power to achieve peace and joy. When you are grieved or feel ‘down and out’, take deep breaths and look at the little ray of sunshine which is waiting to come into your life in a new form to bring you back to the land of peace and joy. Trust that the ray of sunshine will come into your life very soon.