Stress is when you feel you are in a hurry, and there is a fear of starting and anxiety of the result of what you are doing or what you have done. There can be positive and negative stresses. The art of wise living is the ability to use what life gives you rather than be miserable of what you want from life. Stress is an indication that you are fighting with something. Rather learn how to use creatively what is available.
For example, if you can’t sleep, instead of fighting with it by forcing yourself to sleep or internally complaining and feeling miserable, learn to walk, learn to do some exercise and use that energy. In fact, if you have lived your stress life wisely and creatively, then relaxation will happen automatically. Whenever you are in stress, don’t be miserable, don’t get angry or anxious but use it, accept it, welcome it, then that energy prepares you to act. Such an action is born out of the fullness.
Look at stress in another way. One feels the situation is giving you stress. Is situation giving you stress, learn to question it. Then one can find, it is not the situation but one’s interpretation of a given situation which is giving one stress. Situation has nearly 10% impact but 90% is psychological. 75% of snake’s bites are non-poisonous, but if a non-poisonous snake bites one, 75% of the time people faint or even die. So it is not the snake but fear of the snake which has crippled you.
Fear is a movement of thought. Hence, impact of thought is more than the impact of the situation. In a humorous way, I say, more than heart attack people die of thought attack. Learning to manage one’s thought is an effective way to deal with stress.
When the boss scolds, one gets hurt and hurt creates stress. The words of your boss are just words, is it not? How can words hurt? The word “idiot” is just a word, and so the word “idiot” cannot hurt. What hurts is what meaning you give to words, and how you interpret those words and the interpretation is yours.
If your wife scolds you, the scolding is nothing but words, don’t strongly interpret it in a hurting way. This way you will not be hurt. Hurt or upset, whether you justify it or not, is self-damaging. So learn to refuse to get hurt and that decision will give you more power.
One has targets to reach in the corporate world, and if one starts worrying about it then there is stress. Worry is like a rocking chair; it keeps you busy, but leads you nowhere. Learn to be a part of the solution rather than be a victim to the problem.
So if there are high targets, feel passionate about it, bring in the emotion of enthusiasm and passion, and then your corporate goals will inspire you. Emotion is energy in motion. Learn to bring the best emotion and that will make you feel fabulous.
A student asked the master, “In order to be enlightened, what should I do?”
“As much as you can do to make the sun rise or sun set”, replied the master.
“Then what is the use of all the spiritual practices,” asked the student.
“Only to make sure you are awake when the sun rises or sets,” replied the master.
Learn to be inwardly awake, and then you will minimize stress and maximize joy.
Please visit www.swamisukhabodhananda.org
Swami Sukhabodhananda
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