Times of India | December 10, 2009 | Page 16

Everyone, both young and 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 the most, only temporary relief. None of them offer any permanent solution. Tension is only the negative name of 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 process which can lead to intellectual development. Stress plays a role in developing our personality.

In volleyball, there are two players: the waller and the booster. The waller has the key role in this game but he needs a booster, for without a booster, no waller can play his role properly. It is this process of 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. English poet, John Milton, has several major works to his credit. His masterpiece was 'Paradise Lost' and this he wrote after he had turned blind. 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. If you compare your pre-stress situation and your post-stress situation, you will certainly find that your post-stress situation is an improvement on your pre-stress situation.

M K 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 became the Father of the Nation.

When you perceive an opportunity, and you try to avail of 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, trying again.'

This is the formula for de-stressing yourself. Living in worry or stopping your thinking processes is not the solution. Instead of stopping your thinking processes, enhance them and you will soon discover that the stress you felt was acting as an intellectual booster in your life.