Start Somewhere............

It was a usual Monday morning and the more usual traffic I was stuck in. There seemed no displacement in my position from 8:34 to 8:52. I was stranded and caught among a hoard of honking and smoking vehicles. I felt the same during visits to my family. Never ending questions about my marriage , love life , job and so on. Ah, the traffic still seemed better than that.

While I was lost in what seemed like the battle of John Snow and Ramsey Boltan , just in time my Sansa Stark appeared to save me from losing (my mind). As the glass window slid down , a pretty face came to light amidst the unbearable traffic. It was after a long time that I had gotten the time to see something this pretty. I took off my helmet to let her gaze into my eyes without any interruptions. But my ray of hope disappeared in the cloud of disappointment when the signal turned green and the traffic started moving ahead just enough for me to catch a glimpse of myself as she rolled up the glasses. It was an ugly , tired and frustrated face at 9 am on a Monday Morning. I moved on and started wondering how would I look like at 9 PM after the day's work.

I reached office at 9:10 and sat in front of my computer. It had not been 8 hours since I was here last. What was I doing ? Why was I working so much? Why was I here even on weekends? I went to the men's room and stared at the mirror. I looked older than I was. My hairline was receding and my belly line was increasing . I was always working . I start from home at 8 AM , battle traffic for an hour and reach office by 9. The day then halts at lunch time when after a quick 15 min lunch , I am back on my computer until 11PM or sometimes 12 midnight. I hardly talk at home , know my colleagues or have friends.

A familiar face appeared in the mirror “ Why are you so stressed?”
For a moment I thought it was like those mythological serials where the angel appears when you have unanswered questions. But it was my cubicle mate John or perhaps Jay. Oh God I don't know the people around me. I looked back at him and smiled at him not for his concern but for his help in telling me what I wanted to hear.

Yes , I was stressed .I decided to change things. All great works begin with a simple word : Google. I googled the ways to de-stress myself. Blogs , articles , Top 10 things for a stress free living......... the internet was full of stressful content. What resonated was however diet , exercise and yoga. I could do yoga. Its not as tough as sweating in the gym or eating boiled food. All you got to do is sit , close your eyes and breathe.

I enrolled in a yoga class near my home. Woke up at 5 and reached the class. Everyone was so fit around me. While everyone was in body hugging yoga wear , I was in my loose shorts and an XXXXL Tshirt ( it atleast looked that big). It started as a sit , close your eyes and breathe , but there were advanced levels too. Asanas and poses were difficult to master. Everyone around seemed like clay turning and twisting and here I stood like iron ; unbending and inflexible.

“ Uncle you need to stretch “ came a voice from behind. Everyone is an instructor these days and why is she calling me uncle anyways. Girls who moon over Tom Cruise and call men a year or two older than them as uncles should have a special torture zone in hell. I ignored the uncle part and stretched to my limits.

The first day was tiring and I left office at 8 . Ate and slept till 10. After a week things changed however . I felt more energetic , happier and more content. Days began at 5 am , followed by yoga , a breakfast while sitting on table ( I had forgotten that luxury in my hurry to office everyday) , a skype call with my mom and dad while I ate breakfast , office at 9, lunch break followed by a walk in the office premises , back to home at 8:30 and time for dinner ,TV and reading and then a sound sleep.

I started noticing things and people around me. There was life beyond my computer monitor now.

I felt energetic to talk to people , discuss ideas and implement them. I appreciated things around me , valued relationships more and enjoyed doing tasks.

Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. When you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price. Stress can take a toll over your mind body and even your social equation.

The question now is how to distress yourself and cope up with the ever demanding life.
The key to this is to prioritize the various events things and people in your life.
Few changes in the way you live your everyday life can do miracles. All it takes is a single step . Start somewhere and Start today.