Dear Stress, Let’s Break up

Dev has been working in an IT company for last 5 years. News has been spread by the word of mouth that the company management is planning to sack a substantial number of workforce. Dev has just got married. The news has left him distressed. The guy who used to make everybody laugh with his witty jokes has now been transformed into a downhearted person. Nobody can tell if he is the same guy who used to advise everybody to take life in a lightsome way. The humorous Dev has become dispirited Dev whom no one notices in office now.

Rita has another story. She is an ambitious girl who has always been busy working towards a bright career. She never had time for relationships. Now, she is turning 30, her family wants her to marry a guy they have chosen for her. She doesn’t doubt her parent’s choice, but she is concerned about her future. She believes that it takes time to build new relationships. But her family wants her to get married as soon as possible; otherwise, it would be difficult to find a groom for their 30+ daughter, as they put it. Rita has turned gloomy. She has not been able to concentrate on her job since then.

These stories exhibit very few instances of stressful situations one might face. There can be so many other situations that can cause Stress. Human beings have a need to feel safe and secure. We often forget that we cannot count on things to always remain the same. There are certain incidents we have no control over. But they can turn our world upside down. Disruptions are sure to happen. Life can never be as smooth as we want it to be. We just need to handle the disruptions in such a way that they might not lead to another disruption. Otherwise, it would result in a vicious cycle and we would get stuck.

Stress is inevitable but we can always learn to cope with it. There are various techniques to handle stress. We just have to find the one that works for us. First of all, we need to identify that we are undergoing through stress. Friends can be of great help, as they are the ones who would notice even a slight difference in our behavior. We should listen to them. Once we have identified then we can start analyzing the reason which is causing the stress. Try to get social support, discuss our problem with someone we trust. When we are under stress, it affects our capacity to think clearly. Discussing our problem can lead us to a solution that we might have missed before. Consider what we can control and what we can’t. We can’t do anything about the uncontrollable things. What we can do is control our reaction.

Just a small shift in our mindset can help us to go through the tough times. Avoid negative people or anything that gives negative vibes. Try relaxation techniques, opt for meditation. Much like exercise, research has shown that meditating can reap great benefits. Stress is the trash of modern life- we all generate it but if we don’t dispose it properly it will pile up and overtake our life. Moreover, after few years we won’t even remember why we felt so stressed, so why stress about it now? Don’t hold on to those stressful feelings, give stress wings and let it fly, far away from us.