STRESS IN MODERN LIFE...

Man is a social animal. Over thousands of years of evolution and development,

man has always tried to discover and invent things to make life simpler, easier and more
comfortable. The progress over the centuries is amazing. From the Stone Age, when
the aim was to search for food and protection, man has now come to the jet age/
computer age, when he has already set foot on the Moon and is aiming higher and
higher. We have various modes of transport, communication, entertainment and
varieties in food, job, clothing and housing. There has been a progressive improvement
in hygiene and health. However, progress has brought in its wake, the evil of stressful
life. Stress has emerged as one of the negative aspects of development and has
gradually become an integral part of our life. Over the years, man has become more
and more competitive and the increasing pace of life has in turn has made life more
stressful.

In our attempt to simplify our lives, we have made life more complicated and
stressful. Right from childhood, we get into the rat race of aiming to come first in the
class, in games etc., and this obsession with success in all spheres, and at any cost,
makes us so stressed out that we get all sorts of medical ailments like peptic ulcers,
hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease etc. at a very young age. To add to the
above, the overwhelming increase in population also compels us to compete for all
available resources.
In the western world, there is no scarcity of resources, yet they lead a stressful life.
There, it has more to do with interpersonal relationships. Divorce rates are way too high
and people do not lead happy personal lives. Human relationships are inherently
complicated, more so in developed or even developing countries now. Divorce rates in
the developing countries too, are on the rise and the lack of satisfaction in his/her
personal life gradually makes a person incapable of handling the stress of daily life.
In the yesteryears, people moved out to towns and cities seeking employment and
left their families behind, to be taken care of by a huge institution; the joint family. This
not only ensured that dependants had a secure life, but also that the person who had
left his family behind could be stress-free. However joint families are now passé;
Families are breaking into smaller and smaller units and nuclear families are the order
of the day. Consequently, the secure ‘umbrella’ that joint families provided no longer
exists. Thus with nuclear families, comes more and more stress.
Now that we are discussing stress, it would be prudent to consider its ill effects
too. Excessive stress can cause headaches, migraine, insomnia, irritability, depression,
peptic ulcers, low immunity, recurrent infections, infertility, menstrual disorders,
impotence, hypertension and even precipitate heart attacks and strokes. It also has a
psychological impact and can cause low self esteem, low sexual drive, pessimism, a
general lack of interest, lack of drive and indulgence in addictive substances.

Keeping in mind that excessive and prolonged stress has an ill effect on our
physical and psychological well being, a few, simple steps can be help us deal more
easily with the external chaos and make life easier for us. We must understand that
even if we have little or no control over the external environment, we can try and control
our internal environment.

1. Meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises help to stabilize the inner psyche
and enhance our strength to cope up with stress. 10-15 minutes of meditation
everyday energizes and rejuvenates the soul.

2. Music is a good antidote to stress. One can listen to music while commuting
and keep the external chaos at bay. If this is not possible, one can de-stress
by listening to instrumental music or any soothing music at night before going
to bed.

3. Nurturing a hobby like playing games, gardening, playing an instrument or
singing etc. also helps to calm down the mind.

4. Physical exercises like running, swimming, working out in a gym help an
individual to divert his/her attention from the daily rigmarole and act as stress
busters.

5. One should avoid indulging in addictions like smoking, alcohol and drugs.
These habits might make an individual dependent and weaken the inherent
mechanism that helps us to cope with stress. Moreover, they have ill effects on
the physical well being too and are known to cause various diseases like heart
and lung diseases and cancer.

6. One should take a break from work and visit places and stay in different
surroundings for a week or so every year. The change in surrounding helps to
break the routine and refreshes the individual.

7. As far as possible, one should try and keep personal and professional lives
separate and should not bring the tensions of work to home. This can be done
by simple ways to divert ones attention from the work place before/on reaching
home, like for example, listening to music, taking a shower, evening prayers,
meditation, working out or playing games for a short while.

8. We should try and reduce sound pollution by keeping a check over the
tendency to honk while driving and should obey the traffic rules to decrease
the chaos on the roads.

9. One should strive to do well in life and excel in his/her field. But over-ambitious
endeavours are the harbingers of anxiety and stress. One should maintain a
balance and try to be content in life. Whatever we do, our ultimate aim should
be happiness. However, happiness is not proportional to the amount of wealth
or a list of achievements. It is the byproduct of positive thoughts and a positive
and practical approach to life.

10. We should work on our personal relationships and maintain a good friend
circle, friends with whom we can enjoy and share our joys and sorrows.
As a closing note, we should not merely exist but try to enjoy life to the best of our
ability. Only if we are at peace with ourselves, can we create peaceful surroundings. As
all of us form an indispensable part of society, our small contribution can help to
decrease the chaos when seen from a larger perspective. No drug or potion can help us
if we are not willing to bring a small change in our own selves. Let us all work together
to make this world a better place to live in…

Sometimes it is important to work for that pot of gold.  But other
times it is essential to take time off and to make sure that your most
important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to
slide down on the rainbow. 

- Douglas Pagels, From “These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You”