How To Manage Stress And Anxiety Poem by Arun Maji

You are important, very important.
And you must be proud of that.
But at the same-time, you must be humble enough to know,
even without you, this world would be as good as it is now.
Without you, your family would do as good as it is now.

Why I say this? Why?
My patients are both humble and noble. Both poor and powerful.
They often see me feeling distressed, sometime very distressed.
First, I listen to them intently. Indeed very intently.
And then, I may utter my first sentence, "John, you need a break.".

And John goes wild.
"Doc, I am preparing to sign a million dollar contract within few days.
A dozen of people working day and night just for this.
I am the CEO, how can I leave them alone? "

I ask, How often you sign a million dollar contract, John?
He says, every week.
I say, it means you are distressed always. If you are always in the furnace, then when would you cool yourself? Won't you be burnt into ashes soon?

John argues, I am the CEO. I run the company. Without me, everything would shut down.

No John, it won't. Your few days break, would not make any difference to your company. But it would make, a lot of difference to you.

If you believe, without you, your family would die, or your company will shut down, or this earth will stop spinning, I must say, you are already in trouble. And you must address that. If you don't, you would destroy yourself soon. And in that process, you may damage your family and company.

Indus civilization, Mesopotamian civilization, Egyptian civilization, they all died. But did human die? King Phillip the second, died when Alexander was little. But did Macedon starve to death? Indira Gandhi died when no one was ready to replace her. Did India starve to death? This earth will stop spinning one day. Would everything goes extinct then? No. Never.

The process of renewal is intertwined within this creation. If a fragment of creation is destroyed, a new fragment will replace the old. If our earth dies, another earth will be born. If One John is on holiday, another John will take his place. So what is the problem?

This world has no problem. Problem is only within me. I am so proud and sick, I believe, without me, my family will die, my company will shut down. With unnecessary stress, I distress myself. And because I am distressed, I make others distressed too. As a result, I harm my family more, I harm my company more. And often, I am completely unaware of it. Rather I might say, see, in spite of my pain, I am helping company grow.

Really? If you are sick, then how would you take best decision? How would you deal with your stakeholders best? Only a peaceful mind is most accurate. Only a serene mind is most creative. So, if you are distressed, how would you perform best?

To be aware of self importance is good, it brings me confidence.
But if I start believing, I am so important, without me all will shut down, then I am probably sick.

John, please tell me, why you work so hard? Why you earn money? You earn money, to buy your peace, happiness, calmness, serenity. You never sell your peace to earn money. You never sell your happiness to get a raise in your salary. If you do, you would surely be in trouble, without anyexception.

So, my message is, if you want to shoot star, be peaceful first. If you want to win over Jupiter, be peaceful first. If you want to win heart of Julia Roberts, be peaceful first. If you want to have salvation, be peaceful first. Peace is the start point of all journey. And if you begin in peace, you would end in peace.

You have half a million dollar CAR. But you run it, always in fourth gear. What would happen to that car? That car would heat up and blow up. If you live with stress and anxiety, you also heat up and blow up. When you suffer stress and anxiety, you always produce toxic stress hormones. They damage your heart, brain, immunity and other stuff. So you destroy yourself both physically and emotionally.

O man,
seeking help does not make you weak.
But failing to ask help
certainly makes you weak.

Blessed are the meek
for there is the kingdom of heaven.

And guess what? I was in heaven, I did not see God there. I saw only tranquility. Oum Shaanti, Oum Shaanti. Peace Be With You.

© Dr. Arun Maji
Painting: JWG