STRESS IS A GOOD SERVANT
EVERYONE, young or old, complains of stress or tension — a common phenomenon of our times. There are several centres established in order to enable de-stressing but these provide, at most, only temporary relief. None of them offer any permanent solution. Tension is only the negative term for a positive phenomenon. What is generally called tension is, in fact, a sign of a healthy life. It is not an evil but a blessing in disguise.
Your mind has unlimited capacity, but this capacity, which is a gift of nature, is in the form of potential. You need to turn this potential into actuality. How should you go about doing this? Your potential can be realized only through being exposed to different kinds of stress or tension. Stress awakens our mind; stress activates the natural processes which lead to intellectual development. Stress plays a role in developing our personality.
Stress awakens our mind; stress activates the natural processes which lead to intellectual development.
In volleyball, there are two players — the spiker and the setter. The spiker has the key role of hitting or spiking in this game but he needs a setter, for without a setter, no spiker can play his part properly. It is this process of setting or boosting which is going on in the life of every human being. When you face stress of any kind, don’t despair. Take it as a challenge. Take it as an intellectual booster. Stress is a positive sign, a healthy activity. It unfolds your mental potential.
All great men have been faced with great problems. But these problems only increased their creativity, and became the source of revealing a fresh dimension to their personality. The English poet, John Milton, has several major works to his credit. His masterpiece was ‘Paradise Lost’ which he wrote after he had lost his eyesight. Almost all creative people have had to surmount similar difficulties.
When you come face to face with stress, don’t take it as a negative phenomenon. Look upon it as a challenge and try to meet it. You have to activate your mind in a positive direction. Don’t lose your positivity; don’t resort to the language of complaint.
When there is stress in your life, face it as a normal phenomenon and try to continue with your normal routine. Then, very soon, you will find that your stress has propelled you towards your betterment. And you will surely find that your post-stress situation is an improvement on your pre-stress situation.
Mahatma Gandhi was once subjected to humiliating treatment in South Africa. Prior to this, he was an ordinary lawyer, but as a result of this incident, he went on to become the ‘Father of the Nation’.
There is no end to opportunities in this world.
When you perceive an opportunity, and you try to grasp it, and for some reason you fail to achieve your goal; then you might suffer a feeling of tension. But you should know that there is no end to opportunities in this world. If you fail to avail of one opportunity, then don’t take it as the end of everything. There are many other opportunities in life — in fact, the world is full of them. So, if you fail in the first instance, then try to avail of the second or the third opportunity, and so on. There is no full stop to opportunities — only commas! So, instead of allowing yourself to be overwhelmed by tension, adopt the formula — ’try, try, try again’.
This is the formula for de-stressing yourself. Living in worry or stopping your creativity is not the solution. Instead of stopping your thinking processes, enhance them and you will soon discover that the stress you felt was, in fact, acting as an intellectual booster in your life.
In The Face Of Adversity —
“It is only if he does not lose his nerve
and keeps his mind open to what is practical
that he will be able to overcome
the obstacles in his path”.