Add More Zest and Life into your Hours

WOMEN'S DIARY

To feel positively engaged in our daily chores and multiple things and events around us we all need uninterrupted stretches of time (intermittently) wherein we can unplug. It is not necessary or even required to own your own time and space by pursuing a hobby or leisure activity. Not doing anything or not thinking about anything at all is therapeutic enough. Infact there is a saying that everything needs to be unplugged completely once in a while for it to start working including ourselves.

I am a person who is habituated to scrolling and reading random stuff on the internet. And I must confess that at times, I do chance upon some nuggets of information that identifies very clearly and directly with my everyday life challenges. Recently I read two articles in a blog that made me re-examine my current lifestyle a great deal. And I realise that what I read and internalised needs to be shared with all the women that I know and do not know.

The first article was very brief but intensely hard hitting in its message for it reiterated the pressing urgency to accommodate 'nothingness' in our personal definitions of an abundant life. Yes it indeed emphasises that to feel positively engaged in our daily chores and multiple things and events around us we all need uninterrupted stretches of time (intermittently) wherein we can unplug. It is not necessary or even required to own your own time and space by pursuing a hobby or leisure activity. Not doing anything or not thinking about anything at all is therapeutic enough. Infact there is a saying that everything needs to be unplugged completely once in a while for it to start working including ourselves.

It is also not unselfish to decline invitations, to say no to tasks that are simply overwhelmingly and avoid people who are energy depletors or worse energy vampires. These fairly known and also comprehended facts are often easily dismissed in daily life when we are all busy running the rat race. However, by constantly dismissing our own needs and catering to everything else we end up mounting a lot of unrest, anxiety and eventually unhappiness in our subconscious and finally our conscious mind. At one level, by routinely disengaging from conscious activity, we actually recharge our minds and bodies for better productivity too. So the next time that you really want to take a complete break from everything physically and mentally just do it. While some infact many might argue that this is easier said than done it is actually better when done. "When the mind and body is overworked it can really not add value to the activity that it engages in. By pushing one's limits one usually tends to arrive at outcomes that are frankly far from the best, to say the least," says Gopa Bordoloi, a wellness counsellor. She adds, "Women in particular have an overarching natural tendency to stretch their limits and do everything for the sake of family obligations and other compulsions."

Well while it is important to recognise the need for a complete unplugging and embrace this need it is also important in today's stress ridden chaotic world to steer clear of triggers that threaten our mental sanity and consciously look for uplifting elements in our daily lives. This was pretty much the essence of the second blog that I have found so relevant.

While the stressors and triggers might be different for different people there is one common thread that binds them. Stressors and triggers basically unsettle a person and deplete her/his energy. So out of intrigue I got talking to some of my girl friends about what deflates them and what uplifts them in their daily life. "Sadly triggers are numerous," says Akangsha Ghosh, a lawyer. "Escalating work pressures are clearly my cardinal triggers, particularly when there is a difficult case that I am dealing with. Sometimes the client is unrealistic in his approach and that makes matters worse," says Ghosh.

"I am a businesswoman and so I am constantly dealing with consignments of stationary and merchandise. Many a time I have to contend with uncouth vendors. To add to my woes, my retail space owner has recently hiked the rent by almost geometrical proportions. These are my triggers," says Asha Saraogi.

So how does one navigate this seemingly inscrutable web of triggers? "Obviously by doing things that break the patterns of stress and monotony," says Bordoloi.

And what can be these things? "Oh a plenty," says Mrinalini, a cherubic young woman. "Going for an impromptu girl's night out on Wednesday, wearing my best outfit, sipping my favourite beverage in my favourite cafe, meeting my best friend after months- well the list is endless. However, while actually we all have a plethora of choices through which we can add a dash of sparkle into our daily lives, not many of us end up doing these little things that are so uplifting and rejuvenating. Often we blame time for our inability to indulge in these 'little joyful excursions', she observes.

Gopa Bordoloi agrees to her vein of reasoning and urges all women to define and indulge in their 'me time.' And I daresay that at an individual level I shall feel very happy if all women and men internalise this need seriously and yes implement it in their lives, irrespective of the burgeoning sea of constraints.

By: Damini Barua

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