6 Wow Tips From A Friend To Keep It Together In Stressful Times

Being an adult comes with the responsibility of taking care of ourselves, playing the grown up role and always being the rock. But is it really possible?

Walking through a winter evening to a friend’s house sipping in a warm hot chocolate drink felt like I had everything in the world I needed. The warm fuzzy feeling, the comfort of being warm and the chill in the air that felt so fresh. But then, the thought that weekend ends tomorrow came and everything felt a little tasteless.

We all crave for a little warmth and peace of mind. But very often our minds come in between. Catastrophic thoughts, excessive worry often leads us away from our peace of mind.

Moving to the evening when my hot chocolate tasted a little bland, well, I was headed to my friend’s house for dinner. This woman has always amazed me.  Even in the face of a tornado, she seemed to always  have her calm. Worry is something that does not exist in her dictionary at all. Conversationally I asked her that night –

‘How do you stay so calm and composed everyday of your life? Don’t you ever get scared or overwhelmed with responsibilities or the demons in the head ever?’

While carefully cutting a piece of the food on her plate, she replied, ‘Where would indulging in the above lead you to?’

‘Nowhere,’ I replied quite startled at the stark obviousness of my answer.

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‘Then why indulge at all?’ she asked.

What you need to do

‘I have learnt over the years, it’s very easy to get through life.

1. Do what needs to be done. Without fail. Everyday.
2. Give your 100 percent to all that you do.
3. Believe your efforts would lead you to your destination. It cannot NOT lead you somewhere else. The law of cause and effect will make sure you will reach where your effort leads you. An apple would give you the antioxidants, a cheesy burger will give you the fats. It cannot be vice versa. So also with all the thoughts, decisions and activities of your life.
4. There are times when the demons in your head fill you with so much fear, delusion, hopelessness that you literally feel like just staying in your mind doing nothing. Following that instinct is the first step to your self-destruction. So, no matter how and what you feel, whether you are extremely elated or extremely depressed, go on with whatever you need to do every moment. You need to exercise, do it. You need to complete a task, finish it. Giving the mind lax time would only make it stronger.
5. Listen to your inner voice blind folded. Learn to distinguish between the mind’s fears and your subtle inner voice. It has brought me out of many situations unscathed.
6. When your mind wanders in the wrong direction, nip that tendency in the bud. Be mindful, watch a light drama, do anything, but never let the mind control you. Be the boss. Give your spirit all the chance to handle your life every moment. There should not be any compromise on that.

‘I am not calm and composed’, she added. ‘I am just like you and every other human. The only difference is when there is a fight between my mind and my spirit, I always side with my spirit, no matter how tempting or right my mind’s side might seem. This keeps me on tracks. It’s hard to wage a war every day, trust me. But it’s something that you need to do every day and win. No compromise either on that. Gradually you begin to learn how to do this effortlessly. Once there, you will be indomitable.’

‘Wow’, was all I could reply.

Image source: Wesner Rodrigues on pexels

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