Social Media Stress and Youth.

‘A family that eats together, stays together’. But with change in time, no one seems to actually bother.

Today afternoon I made an awesome journey. Journey to my past. Yes, this afternoon made me a bit nostalgic. While I was looking through my old photo albums, the memories came alive. It was always great fun to spend meaningful moments with family, friends and loved ones. Genuinely caring and supporting our near and dear ones. Parents had time for their children and relationship was not just a word. People valued personal bonding and mutual trust was strong. Life was not perfect then. Life is neither perfect now, because we were never perfect then and we are still not perfect now. But yet we were happy because our main aim was to enjoy life in whatever we do, within our limit. Today, recreation is done mainly to upload the experience in social media, and happiness is measured by the number of likes. It is the status symbol and show off that receives importance over genuine happiness and relaxation. Needles to mention that we humans are never content with what we have but always curious on the lifestyle of our friends and associates. Magically their profile always seems to be perfect than ours across social media and their life seems to be super perfect. And we again forget our basics ‘ The grass on the other side always seems to be greener ‘….

Now this brings in dissatisfaction, unnecessary competition and above all STRESS.

I am not blaming social media for anything, because during any road accident, it is always the driver and not the car who is to be interrogated.

Social media has been a boon to the society, connecting people across the globe conveniently at 1st phase, re grouping like minded people with similar interest in the second phase and then grouping them basis age, gender, education, profession, location and various other factors in the third phase, making every individual a prospective lead and finally a customer or end user to various products or services offered by business owners. It has also become a huge platform for sharing information of various nature, such as current affairs, offers, new product or service launch, reader or user reviews and many more. A virtual stage to share amazing talents across and a dominating medium of entertainment and education as well, bringing various facilities within the reach of everyone at a cost much lower than the traditional means, there by benefiting both the user and the provider.

But everything has its pros and cons. Our sensible decision depends on our careful consideration of both the factors. Hence some people enjoy the benefits of social media while some face stress. Providing too much personal information on social media makes you more vulnerable to danger and crime. Trusting a stranger blindly on social media may turn out to be a nightmare. Being physically present on a family gathering but staying glued to various social media sites, seems to be rude and drifts the family bonding apart. Parents should avoid such scenario and set examples for their children. They must ensure that their children too avoid such scenario. Sometimes giving space becomes a costly affair.

So lead a life not in search of virtual fame but in search of true happiness minus stress.

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Life Sucks…..but with your permission..

Our wheel of life needs several re-spin. How many amongst us have the courage for it, makes all the difference.

Nothing lasts for too long. Neither our good times nor the bad ones that sucks life out of us. But probably most of us fail to realise this. There comes a phase in our life when everything seems to be great. Our career, our finances, our home front all seems to be perfect, well not just by default. Happiness and success is the result of our hard work and dedication. However…..2 harsh facts of life remains :– 1) We are not indispensable. We might be a highly talented resource but we are always replaceable. 2) We do not have full control over all the situations that we face in and out.

So now going by the Rule of Nature, ‘after light comes darkness’ Our so called perfect, happy, everlasting successful life unfriends us and blocks us from all the good times. Our professional life or personal homefront or may be both goes through extreme turmoil, tearing us apart. This part is severely painful. We feel worthless, rejected, we doubt our confidence and our abilities. Most adverse outcome, we succumb to loneliness and self-develop a belief of we being a social outcaste, Thanks to us for utilising social media as a platform for sharing artificial happiness and virtual bonding where every individual’s life seems to be perfect but mine. Sigh !! we miss out the basics every time ‘Grass is always greener on the other side’ ………Now coming back to the point of self belief of being a social outcaste, WHAT ?????? self considering as social outcaste ????? This is like hit wicket in cricket or like same side goal in soccer. Professional and personal life instability is common everywhere in every family in some or the other way, you are not the only exception on this planet, so why self tag yourself and turn away from all the good things yet to happen. Life is not over yet.

We must not forget that tough times come with meaningful lessons. It brings in us more maturity, strengthens us, makes us more daring, enhances our limits to face more challenges, it makes us a true warrior and teaches us one of the most important lessons in our life ‘ It is only your family who will stand by you through all your ups and downs, rest of all whom you thought to be your saviour where just fair weather friends’ So tough times aren’t that bad as it brings in courage to fight back the odds and it brings in hope for a new beginning. Are we willing to embrace it ?

Few suggestions to overcome tough times…..

  1. In professional front, lot can be done to bring your career graph back in track. Upgrade your skills, invest in some course related to your work stream. This will give you an added advantage over competition. After all the technology driven economy is changing rapidly opening new avenues for revenue generation. Solely depend on traditional skills and experience and you will soon find yourself to be obsolete. Incase if you find your current profession to be monotonous, you can go for a career shift as well. You need to discover your strengths and decide on your new career stream. It might be less rewarding in the beginning resulting into reduced earning, but it is always better to do something that you like than to continue with something that you dislike. For example an individual from sales background may dislike the current job over a period of time, and there is nothing wrong with it. Now he/she might think of a career change. So first the strength and skills of the current profession needs to be analysed. An individual with sales background, is generally very strong in communication skills, and analysis. Hence an alternate career path can be that of a corporate trainer, digital marketing analyst and many more. Such individual can also be an entrepreneur or even a freelancer. He/she can be into any profession related to the skill set acquired, rather than sitting idol and giving up on life.

2) Unpeaceful home front is very tormenting. It adversely affects the peace of mind there by directly impacting the health and productivity at work. Under such circumstances yoga is very beneficial for mental peace and health. It also enhances our ability to focus. Involvement in any kind of voluntary service related to social welfare is extremely pleasing and gives you a happy feeling. Traveling to your dream holiday destination can be really refreshing. As you mind is free, this is the best time to retrospect the past, rediscover your present and make thing right for a beautiful future.

There are many more thoughts which I wanted to share and trust me the list would go on and on, but may be some other time, some other day. Till then, I am eagerly looking forward to your comments and suggestion.

Would like to end this article with a simple yet meaning thought ‘Our wheel of life needs several re-spin. How many amongst us have the courage for it, makes all the difference’.

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Happy Saturday friends.

God is great and I thank him for giving me an opportunity to live another day. Though last week has been really stressful for most of us, but today is the day to relax, spend time with our beloved family n friends. However it is also necessary to analyse what went wrong last week and how it could have been avoided or can be avoided in near future. After all we learn through our mistakes. But it also holds true that we often fail to figure out a solution to our problems, may be because we don’t share, or may be we are so much engrossed with it that it grows bigger and heavier within.

So how do you react when all your plans fall through ? Do you roll with the punches ? Or does anxiety keep you from enjoying life ? I am going to share 5 quick Stress Busters which I read in an article. It really helped me in streamlining my life & I am sure it will benefit you as well.

5 Quick Stress Busters

  1. Sleep more. Not just to rest our bodies but to rejuvenate our minds as well. ” Tired” and “Cranky” seems to go hand in hand. Don’t use your bedroom to finish off some work from office. Make it a haven. A place to relax and escape the day.
  2. HaveFaith. Saying a short prayer in times of stress can give you a sense of calm, especially when the situation is one you have no control over.
  3. Turn it off. Make sure you set clear limits on when you can and cannot be reached on your cellphone​. Your time off is yours.
  4. Take a holiday. Be just anywhere you can be and not think about the work or whatever tensions you may have. It’s important to take time for yourself. You’ll feel better with a fresh outlook.
  5. Treat yourself. Sign up for a local yoga class, or engage in swimming/ gym/ sports etc. And you will feel more relaxed.

Stress is unavoidable, but what we do with it is upto us.

After all our tenure on earth is not eternal, so is our problems.

Looking forward to suggestions/ advice/ comments. All the best !!

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