To Become Fearless and Stressfree ..........

 To Become

Free from Extempore Assumptive Risks of Loss Enmity  Soreness Stumbling

and

Stopping Tension Remorse Envy Sensitivity Slackness Far Remote Enmity/Evil

Just

Jet Out Yokes

and

Jump Over Yonder

We all crave joy all the time and instead are harassed by stress and worries. This is obvious from the findings of a survey by the world-renowned American Institute of Stress that are equally alarming – 

• 80% of workers feel stress on the job 
• nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress and
• 42% say their co-workers need such help

Moreover, tension and stress is a perpetual, horrifying pandemic that, according to WHO and other reliable sources, affects an estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide, causing approximately 10 million deaths every year. It is an unresolved question of life and death inflicting ‘silent’ suffering and adversely affecting performance at work and at home. What’s more, stress robs one of the joys and pleasures of living. Acute and chronic stress can ruin health, career, marriage, and other relationships. It is considered to be the main cause of many ailments like heart attacks, insomnia, anxiety, and depression.

 Corporates also suffer losses due to the tension that employees suffer. Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost annually to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year, as per WHO data.

All these calamitous consequences persist despite the following all-round efforts to remedy the situation:

(i) medical and pharma researchers are developing medicines and surgical procedures that cost employers and employees billions of dollars. A reported finding reveals that Americans, 4% of the world population, consume 67% of the global supply of anti-depressants worth about $6 billion. The picture in other countries may not be very different if alternative medicine is included.

(ii) millions of copies  (Dale Carnegie’s book  sold 30 million copies) of books on tension and stress are sold. 

(iii) Several thousand attend courses on mindfulness and stress management

(iv) Thousands of gurus and  yogis coach/train millions of seekers  in several countries.

 

Remedial Measures

It is to the credit of the renowned Mayo Clinic that they advocate ‘JOY’  as the main remedy. Their experts say that “Joy is a powerful emotion and harnessing it can be a remedy for stress-related burnout. Contentment and joy can positively improve physical and mental health and overall well-being.” (Emphasis added) 

Are you keen to learn and make efforts to build, cultivate and sustain joy in your life? Albert Einstein, while analyzing worldly problems, says that the “three great forces rule the world, Stupidity, Fear and Greed”. The fact remains that fear causing stress is the main force driven by the other two.

How to be “FEARLESS & STRESSFREE? There are hundreds of books and other sources about this but we have distilled most and got the elixir that is JOY. 

How do you extract it? Well, in just two steps - Jet Out Yokes and Jump Over Yonder.

How to Jet Out Yokes?

First of all, let us be clear of the full meaning and significance of the words, ‘Yoke’ and 'Yonder’. The dictionary meanings of yoke are (i) a long piece of wood fixed across the necks of two animals so that they can pull heavy loads together and (ii) something that limits your freedom and makes your life difficult. 

Here are a few types of yokes that you may be carrying:

• Workplace Problems:

This is, perhaps, the main yoke creating miseries. Here it is worthwhile to learn from Mark Twain who says: "Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life." The results of various surveys showed that 

(i) almost 30% of students felt that they chose the wrong subject to major 

(ii) As a practical matter, about 80% of students in college end up changing their major at least once, according to the National Centre for Education Statistics. On average, college students change their major at least three times over the course of their college career. 

(iii) Another source suggests that a staggering 99% of people choose the wrong career path.

(iv) 85% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs worldwide

Besides demands for overtime, unrealistic goals, and lack of work-life balance can create a sense of being burdened or yoked to the workplace

• Community expectations:

The pressure to conform to  norms and expectations of your community can also be a form of metaphorical yoke, creating a sense of obligation and constraint. 

• Personal Deficiencies:

Things like debt, addiction, or relationship issues can be seen as metaphorical yokes, creating a sense of being trapped. Also contributing to this are other distractions, lack of perseverance, outdated skills and lack of learning/ developing new ideas, reluctance to participate in professional activities like seminars and conferences.

• Religious obligations:

In some contexts, the strict adherence to religious rules and rituals can be seen as a heavy burden or yoke. 

• Lack of Family Coherence:

While marriage can be a source of joy and companionship, it can also be seen as a binding or restrictive element, similar to being yoked together. The rising rate of separations and divorces indicates fall in joyous feelings. Conflicts in general ruin amity and cooperation often leading to litigation. According to a report in September 2021, there were over 4.5 crore cases pending across courts in India. All of these factors are killjoys and contribute to creating misery.

How to Jump Over Yonder

Once again, let us see the dictionary meaning of yonder. It means the far distance beyond what you can see as depicted in this line “attempting to fly off into the wide blue yonder". It is also mentioned in a ballad  by Carrol: “There is a place that I know/where I can find shelter/from a hunger and cold/And the sweet tasting good life/Is so easily found/a way over yonder, that’s where I’m bound.”

The poetic idea in real life just means that if feeling miserable, one should not stick to the routine, the same place, job, human circles but look beyond the horizon and be bold to jump in to a new field, vocation, region, or even countries and in future on to the Mars or space factory.

 In short, there is joy in adventure despite risks.

Joy Wells - up Spontaneously 

The whole of humanity is caught up in headlong pursuits of money and wealth and in accumulating more and more possessions. The competition is taking its toll and might give temporary pleasures and even sense of happiness  But, this is euphoria - externally induced - the reason for the strange phenomenon of misery in plenty.

Noted author and philosopher, Desmond Wilson’s brutally honest and frank confession is proof of misery in plenty, collectively and individually. He says, “I was sitting out by my tennis court one day, and I looked up at my house, and it looked like a prison. All these things I had, they were such a burden. They were hanging on me like a yoke. My personal life was falling apart for no particular reason.”

There is thus a need to realise that pleasures and happiness are external and temporal while joy wells up spontaneously. For that there is urgent need for introspection and to link with the real self. All humans have three selves - real, social and ideal. But, most of the time in most activities people’s social self, which is also quite rightly called ‘mask’, is in action. The most prevalent tendencies of competition and comparison are related to the social self and cause misery.

Through meditation and concentration everyone should attempt to find the real self and be true to it or be 'authentic' as the management jargon says. The simple ideas like ‘joy of job well-done’ or ‘joy of new discovery’ or ‘ being a good scout’ and giving prompt help to others even strangers are indicators of genuine joyfulness. The wisdom is in listening to your own inner voice and not being misled by coaches or crowds.

And, finally if one feels miserable and sad, the elevating  idea from the Bhagwat Geeta is of great help:

Uddhared atmanatmanam natmanam avasadayet

Atmaiva hy atmano bandhur atmaiva ripur atmanah

Translated into English, it means that it is desirable that human beings should always strive to achieve salvation and should never indulge and get into decadence.  They can, in fact, be their own enemies.  Likewise, they can become their own friends.

Wizards Of World!

Spread the Creed of Wisdom

Be authentic and true to your real self, listen to your inner voice

and joy will well up!