Healthy. Stresses and strains! Who wants them?
December 30th, 2011 → 6:12 am @ Shanti
Hello again. It is so amazing how we are reminded about things, when we keep an eye out for information.
I was staying at a friend’s place the other day and when I woke up, saw a sign saying:”The best things in life are free”.
Well, that was strange, because I wanted to write about the most wonderful things in life, like love, smiles, friendship, sunshine, the stars at night, the trees and the flowers, the birds and their beautiful songs, the ocean to swim in and cool off on a hot day, laughter, the love of your pets, faith, hugs, kisses, etc. All these are free and we so often do not think about them. Read them all again, slowly this time. We should fill ourselves with all these all day and every day. We are inclined to concentrate on making money and being busy doing our work and have little thought for the most wonderful things in life, as written above.
It is so easy to have a smile on your face and make another person smile back at you.
Since I have changed my life so drastically, by meditating and fasting in the desert, as written in my book, I haven’t stopped smiling and when I walk around in the streets or in supermarkets, where most people are somewhat stressed, having to do their chores, which are boring and not all that pleasant, I am always smiling and this has a very positive effect on the people I meet or pass casually. They return my smile and very often stop and talk.
When I am in the bush, enjoying the freedom of nature and observe the trees, the flowers, the animals and when I bathe in the crystal clear waters of the creeks, it makes me so happy and it is free. Yes, I am privileged to be able to do all these things now, after working in my profession and bringing up a family, but I have done it by myself, as I was so kindly reminded by a beautiful friend. I have taken the steps to do what I want to do. So many of you are trapped in paying off loans and rates for the house you live in, worrying about all sorts of society made situations, which in the end are killing you from the pressures put upon you. One has to go to a doctor for stress relief and this is always done with chemical drugs, which do us more harm than good. Instead you should take time out and follow some of the steps I took, to relieve you from these pressures. That way, you are not being poisoned and come out of it free from the burdens, without side effects.
It is well documented, that for every physical ailment, there is an emotional cause.
Think about this for a while and analyse your problem carefully. Sit quietly and think why you are sick. Try and go back a little further in your life and see what you come up with. You have to be very honest with yourself and sometimes this is difficult, because you will be in denial. You will refuse to accept that you are under so much pressure, because you have chosen that path and you were RIGHT doing that, weren’t you? (Mmmm)
It is very difficult to admit that you are wrong, isn’t it?
The cause may be the job or profession you have chosen; it may be the partner you are with; the house you live in; the suburb or town you decided to reside in etc. There are many decisions we have to make and sometimes we make the wrong one, but it is hard to get out of that. We must though, because if you don’t, it will kill you, from the stresses it puts on you. YOU ARE IMPORTANT, so never under-estimate that fact.
I have had to make these decisions a few times during my life and was so glad I did.
Yes, one job in particular. It was really stressing me out. One morning I walked into the office and my superior asked me to come and see him. He told me I had made a mistake, written the wrong figure on a factory order. I apologised and then he said, that I had made other mistakes. (He could not tell what they were.)
This was too much for me, as he had been on my back for weeks and I know it was not because I made mistakes; he felt threatened. I decided there and then to leave and I told him so. He said:”You cannot do that.” I showed him how it was done. I picked up my bag and some of my things from my desk and walked out. As I walked away, he called out:”What about your wages for the week and your holiday pay?” I yelled out:”You can have them, I don’t want anything to do with you any more.”
I drove away feeling very happy and glad I took that decision. My stress level decreased daily after that and I was proud to have taken that step to freedom. I had a week off work, went to the beach and enjoyed myself and found another job, which I liked very much, almost straight away.
This also proves, that if we are stuck in a rut, we cannot change so easily it seems. The idea is to get out of that negative situation first and then accept the new challenges, which are usually very exciting.
I have used the car as an analogy before and here again we can see the similarities. For instance, if you go driving and you get bogged, you cannot do anything. You are stuck in the mud. To go on, you must get out of that situation and so whatever it takes, you take the right steps. Once you are out of that mud, you can drive on again, as free as a bird. Get it? We must continually clear our road, for a comfortable ride ahead.
Accept the things that are free in life and enjoy the ride. There are more of them, I have not mentioned, but you should add them to your list.
Happy travelling through life’s wonderful path. Lots of love to you from Shanti.
