The evolving lifestyle
is inducing stress at a rate which many people find it extremely difficult to
cope. This is leading to suicides where the tolerance limit of the impacted
individual is breached. In other cases where the person is coping with difficulty
it fructifies as psycho-somatic disorders leading to very serious health
problems and over dependence on medicines foe managing the mind-body sickness.
This is not a healthy way ahead for the society and its criminal for the children
to become victims of these problems for none of their faults apart from
inheriting it from the parents.
There are many reasons for this problem but the major one
is the inability to marshal resources to meet the needs/desires of a family. Materialistic
market presents better things and markets it so well that if one was not to
procure it soon post launch others would look at you with disdain. The problem
is faced even by school kids—where did you go for holidays; which mobile;
branded items; week end outings; malls/spas. Endless lists, one can only pity
this child who faces such lifestyle so early. If parents cannot provide he will
carry a complex which will have ramifications. So the mad race for becoming
rich quickly and amassing so much that a few generations down the chain are
taken care off. Kids on one side and aging parents on the other both were
priorities till a few years back. With Medicare becoming exorbitant and kids
bringing up equally demanding, parents are being jettisoned into self-care/old
age homes—an extremely difficult situation to cope for the oldies.
Thus there are cascading stress creating forces which are
being released by the market and no one can prevent this or cocoon himself/parents/children
from this challenge. The existing coping mechanisms are failing to address the
issue as evident by the health parameters available. The medicines are
prolonging the age but are they prolonging life or just delaying death.
To understand and manage stress one needs to understand the
total body functioning. The body functions at three levels—physical, thoughts
and feelings – this could also be termed as body, mind and soul function.
One must have a view on the deeper meaning and purpose of
life, failing this one is moving like a rat in the rat-race not really knowing
what is he looking at.
Everyone’s mind is his world. The perceptions flow from the
mind. Nature’s way/activities are neutral but all move as per plan in a gradual
manner. Anything done too fast leads to disaster- tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes
etc. are the examples of volatile nature where too much force was used too
rapidly causing destruction. In fact observing the nature can give lots of
clues on how to live and enjoy the journey of life. Jealously, comparisons,
judgemental etc. all leads to stress. We need to understand that we all are
different at the mental level though may be similar at the physical levels,
therefore comparing only complicates. It is also a fact that everyone excels in
his chosen field of activity to some extent. Ultimate test of success must be
does that success/ activity calms the mind or agitates the mind. Thief would
amass wealth by unethical ways and maybe he is happy and possesses a calm mind
-- so be it.
The most powerful tool is the mind and for
most of the humans it’s out of control. There is little to no control by the
majority over the most powerful tool THE
MIND the body is equipped with. Mind generates thought which initiates
action which is performed by the physical body.
The cure and challenge lies in
calming the aware mind.
How
this to be done is – drugs and tranquilizers are the easiest way but it has the
limitation. As soon as the effect is over the mind bounces back with a vengeance.
Agitated mind clouds the decision making mechanism and has devastating ramifications
on our body functioning. Most of our body functioning is on automatic mode within
built trigger mechanism to cater for any threats that may get generated from
within/out. Flight in case of extreme fear , we all know and are aware of ,
however what we are not aware of is when the body is stresses due to restless
of the mind, mechanisms come into play automatically. The secretion glands release
more chemicals; enhanced palpitations and number of other things happen most them
not visible or known to the individual. After prolonged hammering of the body
the symptoms are seen as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, deformed newly born
kids, rage, and intolerance, and anger, violent behavior sudden personality
change towards introvert/extrovert, heart/organ failures and ultimately suicides.
How
does one address the challenge?
Stage one: Befriend the Mind observe the thoughts. This could be done for a few
minutes every hour. One will come to know the pattern of his thoughts. This is
very important because analysis of thought process will give a person the
pattern of his thoughts—good bad and ugly. It will also give the rationale for
the same that is, what triggers (person, event, activity) the good, bad and
ugly. This may take a month or more depending on how volatile the mind is when
the exercise commences.
Stage two Identify the Triggers regulate the thought. Easier said than done. This
is pretty difficult but not impossible. In stage one, the person experimenting
has been able to analyse the behavior pattern, having done that, it’s time to
take charge. Inject that triggers the good and reject that triggers the ugly.
Should the ugly refuse to go away set aside a time and place and let the
tsunami of ugly pass and do not let it linger indefinitely. Try and analyse the
cause and address that is addressable and adjust the mind to learn that which
is beyond or not possible to change. Make a deliberate effort to avoid minimize the triggers of the negative spiral. Identify what calms the mind since drugs
are out it could be any activity- sports, hobbies, physical exercise,
meditation, music, reading, writing and a host of other activities. But
remember any activity over a period of time gives reduced returns. Therefore inculcate
number of activities and rotate amongst them. Moment one finds diminishing returns
from an activity quickly move on.
Stage three Aware and Regulate regulate-control
your mind with awareness. This implies as soon as the mind dwells into a negative
spiral quickly back off and an automatic feedback cum update on an activity that
may have has stopped giving the intended returns or an activity which for the
present seems to be appeasing the mind thus offering the potential of new good
trigger mechanism. This would be possible only once one is aware of the
evolving mind which gets impacted by all the inputs it receives every day and
there may be close to a million of these.
Stage Four: Assume Control. This is the ultimate stage wherein the mind stays
tranquil and calm. It triggers only the positive and happy thoughts and warns
of intrusion of hostile activity immediately.
The
journey of life must be enjoyed to the fullest, Therefore to move through life
aimlessly from one desire fulfillment to another is a sure recipe for disaster For
the advocated technique to be a sure success, it is essential that every person
works out philosophy, core values including
their measurements of success and terminal aim of life. The key lies in understanding the mind-body
inter relationship and then analyzing hat stimuli leads to what kind of
ramification. Observing the mind and injecting the good and rejecting the ugly
would help regulation. Regulation would lead to control of mind. For a layman
stage one and two would suffice to cope with stress and enjoy a happy healthy
and joyful journey of life.
Try it -- it will Make A Difference
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