Think about this: Until two decades ago, the word ‘stress’ remained only a terminology in Science. It was not a part of conversations.
We worked hard, we faced obstacles, we crossed challenges. But we never said “I feel stressed” like we do today. Now we treat it as a natural emotion to describe our state of mind. In fact, some of us like to emphasise that we are stressed, as though it is a sign of hard work, success, or a way of life. It is time to pause and check our understanding about stress.
Consider these situations:
✥ Suppose we sit on a chair and start feeling uncomfortable. What do we do? Do we scold the chair? We don’t. We take responsibility to either change the chair or change our posture.
✥ Suppose we place our palm near a burning candle flame. Do we blame the flame? We don’t. We take responsibility and withdraw our hand.
✥ Suppose we are stressed. What do we do? Often, we do nothing. Because we believe this pain is natural. Our deepest belief is “I am not responsible for how I feel. People or situations make me feel stressed”. This is incorrect. Nothing and no-one else are responsible for how we feel and how we respond. Our response is 100 percent our own responsibility.
Stress is an initial symptom of being spiritually and emotionally weak. It is an emotional pain, which comes to tell us there is something we need to change. If unattended, stress can affect our efficiency, memory power, decision power and hence our performance. It impacts our physical and emotional wellbeing. So contrary to the belief that a little stress is good, natural or necessary, any amount of stress is damaging.
In Science, Stress is given by the formula: Stress = Pressure divided by Resilience. The same formula can be applied to our life:
✥ Numerator ‘Pressure’ = Health, Relationships, Expectations, Wealth, Exams, Job, Boss, Deadlines, Profits, Time, Traffic, Weather …. the list is long.
✥ Denominator ‘Resilience’ = Our Inner Strength to face the Pressure i.e. our thoughts, feelings, words, actions and behaviours.
Therefore, Stress is equal to Our Situations divided by Our Inner Strength.
✥ Today, most of us have conveniently ignored the denominator and we say Stress = Pressure. When our Inner Strength is low, even a small pressure creates high stress.
✥ As we can see, the Numerator is not in our control. We cannot control the day’s traffic, weather, or our children’s behaviour. They can be fine or they can just be chaotic.
✥ The Denominator is entirely in our control. It is up to us to increase our Inner Strength.
✥ Instead of trying to control the Pressures, let’s focus on increasing Resilience. Stress will start reducing naturally. This means we naturally experience peace, happiness, harmony and success.
Follow these simple steps to increase your Inner Strength and become stress-free:
✥ Energise yourself every morning with meditation and spiritual knowledge, this helps your mind to think right in every scene.
✥ Read, listen and watch only pure and powerful content throughout the day. Withdraw from arguments, conflicts, gossip and judgements.
✥ Circumstances are a stimulus. Your response is your choice. Take personal responsibility of your creation—your thoughts, words and actions. Never blame situations, people or even God for how you feel or how you respond.
✥ Accept people as they are, understanding that they will have different nature, qualities and perspectives. Be compassionate. Advice or discipline them with respect.
✥ Accept situations as they are. Be solution-oriented, focusing on what to do next.
✥ Use your values consistently with everyone and always, even if others don’t use them.
✥ Your life is your journey—as per your capacity and your values. Refrain from comparison or competition. Co-operate with them.
✥ Practice forgiveness and release emotional pains. Do not wait for people to apologise or change.
✥ Follow lifestyle disciplines of right eating, drinking, and sleeping.
Affirmations:
State and visualise these affirmations slowly with complete conviction, thrice every morning and night:
“I am a peaceful being... I am a powerful being... I enjoy my responsibilities at home... targets at work... pressures... deadlines... they are a part of my role... I remain calm... pressures are outside... I am relaxed inside... I respond with confidence and stability... I trust myself… I live by my values and principles... no comparisons... I complete my tasks before time... my success is always certain... I overpower every pressure of life.”
Stress is an initial symptom of being spiritually and emotionally weak. It is an emotional pain, which comes to tell us there is something we need to change.