Living a Stress-free Life(Or at least trying to)

     There is always a ton of pressure put on us at any given time. When we are in school, we are expected to excel in our academic life, extracurricular life etc. After graduating, we expect to find the "dream job", which let's be honest is extremely difficult in today's world. When we are in the workforce, we are always expected to go above and beyond in our job. It can really be taxing, mentally and physically, trying to plan for the future or just trying to live our day-to-day life without going broke (or crazy, whichever comes first).

     I personally have a bad habit of giving myself too much stress. I stress out about the future, my life etc. In order to calm myself down and distract myself from all my problems, I have had to come up with some ways to live a relatively stress-free life.

Practice yoga.

Not only has yoga improved my posture, it really has taught me to relax and be more calm. Give yourself an hour every morning before going to work to practice some yoga. A lot of times, in life we cannot control what circumstances we will go through. Instead stressing about what might happen, or what has happened in the past, it is important to look forward and stop stressing out. What is meant to happened, will happen.

Be positive.

Being positive really works wonders. No one likes being around negative people who complain about everything, but never really does anything to change their current circumstances. Complaining never solves anything. Stop complaining and take action about the situation.

Remind yourself that things will change eventually.

Nothing is permanent in this world except change. If you are going through a bad phase in your life, of course you will be worried. That is normal. However, it is also important to remember that things will take a turn for the better, eventually. This does not mean, you can just expect everything to be handed to you. You still need to work hard and put effort in improving your situation.

Read more.

Not only will it distract you, you might end up learning something new which might be beneficial to you in the future. When you read, it helps you to escape the worries and stresses of your everyday life. You end up completely engrossed in the world that the author of the book has created. Reading also instantly helps to reduce your heart rate and ease tension in the muscles.

Give yourself a day off.

It is important to have some "me time" once in a while. You can treat yourself to a nice meal, go shopping, get your hair done etc. Anything that helps you to wind down and chill out.  Not only will it refresh you, it will also give you a boost. The next day, you will be ready to face any problem you have head on.

Enjoy Nature.

It is calming to go for nature walks or hikes. I like spending time in nature. It feels rejuvenating for the mind and body. Breathing the fresh air and spending time in the sun also helps you to feel better. Did you know going out in nature also helps to lower stress hormone levels?

Write. 

Sometimes it is cathartic just to write down what you are feeling. This way, you do not feel like you are just keeping all of your emotions bottled up inside you. You acknowledge your different feelings and emotions by writing them down which helps to give you a sense of relief.

The Pursuit of Happiness (Not the movie :P)

I was reading the PDF from the Time Magazine and I was surprised to find out that only 1/3rd of Americans since 1972 have described themselves as “very happy.” One major reason for that happening is, I believe, that people are becoming more and more pessimistic about the future. They don’t know what to live for anymore. People still believe the old saying that “money solves all problems.” It is true that money can boost happiness if it helps you to obtain what you desire.
For example, people should not just settle in life with what they have if they are not happy. If you aren't satisfied, go and find something that you love doing. Like Steve Jobs said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet keep looking.” Even a recent survey suggests that, for example, previously out-of-work people are happier with their new job even if it doesn't pay as much because they love the job.

Social media also tends to affect a person immensely. For example, people will feel the need to share everything they are doing in their life maybe to get people to “like” your posts and comment. People are bringing in attention to themselves this way. People also tend to get depressed/jealous after scrolling through their Facebook or Twitter. The reason that happens is that people see pictures of others and tend to envy them. They also may get depressed because they see others supposedly leading fascinating lives while they are just on their phone scrolling through Facebook or other social media.

So what I think is that people should find something to live for. That is very important. You should find something in life that motivates you and keeps you going. As long as you are happy with what you are doing, that is all that matters.

Article here  :  
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2146449,00.html

The Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness is a quintessential tale of the American Dream. A man who is poor, struggles and with his hard work, succeeds against all odds. It is a very touching movie. It is the happiness that the person attains after he finds out that he has succeeded after struggling which is so touching. If you are determined and you have the talent, you will surely succeed. It gives me hope that as long as I work hard and try my best, I will succeed. 

I think that the American dream exists to give you hope. It gives you hope that if you work hard enough, in the end you will succeed. It is a stereotype that a perfectly average person with an average income will be successful and lead a happy life as long as he works hard. But that is not always the case, as we have seen with Willy in the book , "Death of a Salesman". He worked so hard but what did he get at the end? Nothing. In contrast, the film, The Pursuit of Happiness, endorses the idea that as long as you are smart and willing to try your best, at the end you will surely succeed.