Thought 130: Stress has become unavoidable

A person goes to work for two primary reasons. One, of course, is to earn his or her livelihood. The other equally important drive is to socialize. If you do not go to work, you degenerate. This is why people, who lose jobs, for whatever reason and those who retire, get easily bored, demoralized and depressed, when remaining idle at home. It is said that an idle man’s brain is a devil’s workshop. Boredom drives these people to all sorts of mischief – alcoholism, for instance, is one offshoot of such a boredom.

At the same time, when you have a job and go to work, the work environment interacts with you - not always pleasantly. This interaction very often results in some amount of stress. As a matter of fact, there is usually some amount of stress in every occupation and in every work environment.

The say that emotions like medicine should be in a proper dosage to be effective. This principle is observed more in its breach than in its compliance. Emotions have direct impact on health. There are many instances of body reaction relating to the state of the mind. You blush when you are embarrassed. Your face becomes red when you are angry. You become pale when you are frightened. When you feel frightened, the heart rate increases rapidly. Sadness and melancholy can produce loss of appetite. Mind and breathing are connected in some way. When you are disturbed - anger, shock, fear etc - your breathing becomes irregular. We know that rhythmic breathing calms the mind.

Emotional stress is what you feel when a loved one passes away. It manifests itself in depression, grief, sadness, loneliness, helplessness. Under the influence of this type of stress, you may get immobilized and neglect your health, your job etc. If you are a habitual cynic, these effects will be accentuated further.

Stress related disorders like, high blood pressure, insomnia, ulcers, migraine headaches, are now being cured by body-mind therapies like meditation, relaxation response, hypnosis etc. Thus, the evidence that bodies and minds effect each other appears overwhelming. Now, it is more or less accepted that "thinking well helps making you well".

The next thought is about “The Bananas”