How To Handle Stress

"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." -William James

I was reading recently about stress and how our lives can become complicated to the point of not being able to think clearly. This point of unclarity can be described as the "accumulation of garbage" in ones head. To simply get beyond it, you need a way to shed and achieve peace within yourself.

Some people remove themselves to a quiet place to be alone for some amount of time. It may be only 15 minutes or possibly for an hour or more. This place is where you can think of all those things and then let them go out of your mind for a while. Don't attempt to block all of the thoughts when you go to this quiet place.

The more you try to force yourself not to think of them, the more you will. Simply let them flow and as you do, turn your attention to something else. The beauty of your wife and children, the excitement of a favorite sporting event or the memory of a nice afternoon at the beach.

How you cope with the stress of everyday life is what matters. You find a method that works and then you learn how to see the signs of stress coming on. Something will find its way to you, but be careful not to allow drugs or alcohol to be the source of comfort. Each of those and other harmful effects will soon make things worse.

Accept stress for what it is, a sign that you need to stop and relax. Become introspective at those points in time. Allow your mind to deflate from all that you are trying to process. It will help you see more clearly.

Stay inspired my friends.

Breakfast With Salman Rushdie

"Finding some quiet time in your life, I think, is hugely important." ~Mariel Hemingway

In all of my travels, it is very rare that I come within ear shot or even see famous people. For all of the media exposure that so many get, there are so many others that are average, everyday people like you and me.

So it was with great interest that the man sitting one table away from me seemed very familiar. In my hotel in central London, the business lounge provides breakfast on the top floor for members. This particular morning I chose a later time to arrive.

With only three of us in the room, there was no particular reason that I sat near this man. The only thing that drove me that direction is that it was close to the television. It also gave me a clear view of the Thames River. Well then again, maybe I did have a reason for sitting where I did.

Something about the presence of the man sitting near me and his familiar face told me he was of some importance or celebrity. After a short while it dawned on me that it could very well be Salman Rushdie. Yes, that famous auther who wrote the Satanic Verses which became the scorn of many Muslims. So much that in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, (leader of Iran at the time) issued a fatwa or decree telling all Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers.

Salman Rushdie was placed under police protection by the British government. As of this year (2010), Salman has not been harmed, but it is said that 38 others connected with the book have been killed.

So my mind kept thinking and rationalizing his presence in this place. No body guards and such. But after so many years, I had to think he had slipped back into obscurity and maybe it just wasn't as big of a concern anymore.

But was it really Salman Rushdie? I never asked because I've always felt that there are times of approach and there are times of quiet. This seemed like a time of quiet. We both nodded a good morning to each other and left each other to our quiet and peaceful breakfast.

He may have simply been a person that looked extremely similar to Salman, but I'd like to think otherwise. That I had breakfast with Salman Rushdie and that we enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the morning.

Each of us need those quiet moments in time. To pull ourselves back from the hurried and noise filled life that surrounds us each day. A time to reflect on things that matter to us. A time to just let down our guard a little bit and not be looking over our shoulder.

Maybe next time I'll ask to be sure, but then it might disappoint me. Then the peaceful and quiet breakfast that I had with Salman Rushdie will disappear forever for both myself and for him.