PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Dont take yourself so seriously

HILE stress makes you feel miserable, cool-as-cucumber attitude certainly makes life easier. Varun was suffering from insomnia. His digestive system was giving him problems. His skin was losing its glow. After consultations with doctors, the root cause of Varuns ill health came into light. It was stress. Varun, an executive in a firm, had great responsibilities. More often than not he was overworked. He could seldom find time for relaxation. His mind was never free of tensions. His hectic schedule kept him busy the whole day. Workaholics are quite susceptible to stress. If all work and no play can make Jack a dull boy, it can sure make your life monotonous and full of stress. Dr Flanders Dunbar says, The inability to relax is one of the most widely spread diseases of our time and one of the most frequently recognised. It is essential to spare time for recreation. Even our heart operates on an alternate work and rest pattern. Learn to relax. Cultivate a hobby and pursue it. Yoga is good for health and mind. So are swimming, cycling and dancing.

The purpose and aim of a hobby is to give you a pleasant change from your routine work. Time spent on a hobby offers diversion. It soothes your tired mind and body. Choose a hobby. Spare some time for it. For best results it is important to forget your tensions while you relax. Nitin, a business magnate, had his mind occupied with his business problems. He suffered from tension and anxiety. Nitins friend thought of a solution to mitigate Nitins stress. He cajoled Nitin to join Judo classes. Judo became Nitins hobby. He practised it for an hour daily. This subsided his stress. Stress and anxiety make the whole body tense and rigid. A person who is learning to drive a car is likely to drive nervously, throwing every muscle in his body into the effort. Under stress, he spends a lot of unrequired energy and as a result gets tired soon. Whereas an ace driver who is not under stress may drive hundreds of kilometres without getting exhausted. While stress makes you feel miserable, cool-as-cucumber attitude certainly makes life easier. Dr Norman Vincent Peale says, Dont get the idea that you are alone carrying the world on your shoulders. Dont strain so hard.
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Dont take yourself so seriously. Namita opened a boutique. She took more orders for dress-designing than she could handle. She didnt touch the fabrics for several days. Every day she thought that she would do it tomorrow. Two days before the delivery date she started designing the dresses. She worked on one dress and without doing it completely switched on to another costume. She was under great stress to deliver the several outfits to her customers. She had started working on all the dresses simultaneously. The resultnot even one was ready on time. She lost her customers. A fundamental factor in stress is mental chaos. A disorderly mental state means confusion and, of course, tension. Such a mind rests lightly upon problems which it never decides. A jittery mind flits from one problem to another. The deferred decisions pile up. The pressure mounts up and the mind is overpowered by stress. Ashwani Bhalla is a student of the Bachelor of Pharmacy course. His annual examinations span for over two and a half months. The vast syllabus in tandem with the period of examination make the stress over-bearing.

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PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
Ashwani, with a pragmatic approach, has his own solutions. Unlike some of his classmates, he does not want to study everything in one go. He chalks out a time-table and allocates sufficient time for preparation prior to his exams. Concentrating on one topic at a time eliminates the impending strain. When he has done the topic thoroughly his confidence boosts. bad things may happen to you? Why not think the other way round? Dont let negative thoughts breed in your mind. What we think and feel has a vital effect on our health. Excessive levels of stress have a direct bearing on the metabolism. If the body remains in stress it becomes susceptible to hyper-tension. It is followed by ailments like disrupted excretion and heart disorders. One study suggests that as many as seventy-five per cent of all medical complaints including ulcers, headaches and backpainsare caused by stress. affect everybody. These are ups and downs in everyones life. One should be prepared for the worst, accept the best and accept what comes. If there is no obvious source of stress in your life, you have probably put yourself under pressure through your life-styleso change it. Our life is what our thoughts make of it. One should have ambitions but should wish for something that is probable. Getting rich overnight might happen in a Hindi movie but such films are seldom inspired by real life stories. Building castles in the air and then seeing them blast is a short cut to stress. Eschew it. Working diligently while keeping the feet firmly on the ground can shut the doors to baseless worries and tensions. Accept fully the fact that stress can be an enemy, a subtle and destructive disease. So strive for inner peace and mental, emotional, and spiritual harmony, developing an organised and integrated personality. Do not forget that the relaxed man is the powerful man.

Organise
HEN you organise your mind, a sense of power will come to you. You will be surprised at the ease with which you can handle responsibilities. You will feel light and relieved. Your aptitude and the satisfaction and delight you derive from what you are doing will make you wonder. Strain and tension will diminish. Planning plays a crucial role in bursting stress. Instead of pondering over the problem, ruminate on practical solutions. Dont pressurise yourself to achieve all very quickly. Slow and steady is not just for the tortoises success. It is also for us to follow. Work out solutions and implement them. When over-stressed we think all the awful things that may happen. Sangeetas husband Rajeev did not return from a party. She anxiously waited for him. As time passed Sangeeta got more tensed. She walked in and out of the house restlessly. Her mind imagined all sorts of bad things that may have caused Rajeevs delay in returning home. The stress made her feel like a taut string. After two hours Rajeev came home whistling. He was shocked to see Sangeetas condition. He sensed the problem and said gently, Didnt I tell you in the morning that we would be having a party in our office today? Stress is not just due to what is happening, it is also the fear of what might happen. Pessimistic thinking is a sure short way for inviting stress. Viewing the present and future with smoked glasses results in stress. Be optimistic. Why think that all the

Aggravate

RINKING cups of tea and coffee or chain smoking do not mitigate stress. On the other hand, they affect the health adversely. Alleviation of stress can only be achieved from within by orderly, controlled, disciplined thoughts and a calm disposition. There is light enough for those who have the optimistic disposition and darkness enough for those who have the opposite outlook. No doubt, life is full of problems. But problems have their solution. Lifes dusk brings its lamps along. Working calmly yet steadily even in the face of adversity can subside stress. Shalini was a sensitive girl. She was reticent. She hardly shared her thoughts with others. Her bottled up stress proved quite harmful. It led to a nervous breakdown. A person cannot forever pent-up within himself all his troubles to yourself. It is advisable to get things off the heart. Releasing stifled emotions is necessary. The heart must be relieved. Release your bonded troubles like a pressure cooker releases its steam. Shalini was taken to a counsellor. She was coaxed to speak out. Giving vent to her feeling proved quite beneficial. The accumulated stress evaporated. Shalini felt light and easy. Try to trace the source of stress. Family rows, worry at work, examinations, losing jobsthese things
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Current Affairs & Backgrounders

Comprehensive Notes on Current Affairs with Exhaustive Backgrounders

2001 Edition
(Revised & Updated)

KHANNA BROTHERS (PUBLISHERS)

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