She then switched to genetics ie. the study of genes. She emphasized on how an individual pursuing this field had to be a calm and composed and with loads of patience. I remember telling the lecturer about my excited interest in it and that someday I would be in it. She gave that sarcastic smirk and commented that I was far from it. Well, cut to the present times, I’m certainly far from Genetics but atleast I’ve understood what it takes to possess the art of being calm. In one of the client briefings at a client site, I remember how the laptop malfunctioned and I couldn’t share the presentation that was prepared having spent hours and hours on it. I was confident to manage the problem with my technical acumen, but soon, that confidence gave way to small trickles of sweat in that air-conditioned office. Those were not the days of cloud sharing and hence we couldn’t even access our computers back in our office. My client at the time was an amazing guy who was calm and empathetic of the situation and allowed me to resolve the issue. Similarly, I have also been through more stressful situations later in life but managed to escape unscathed, thanks to some preparation. What happens in stressful situations Humans have been facing stressful situations from the times they were hunter-gatherers. The stress of being hunted down by wild animals, of being stuck in extreme weather, of not finding food, of being attacked by other humans, etc. I don’t believe life would have been anything but peaceful in those times too. That led to their brains being wired for a shoot-or-scoot response. Either retaliate or run away from it. Both ways, we must be prepared for action and that is what scares us the most. A lot of changes occur in our bodies when faced with threats or stressful situations. Our heart beats faster to pump in more blood to meet the extra oxygen requirements. The body produces more adrenaline to strengthen muscles for this action. We are faced with a problem that we are not prepared to encounter and is totally unexpected. The body experiences several sudden changes in its chemical composition that helps one to face stressful situations that requires one to be on the toes. So in such a scenario, if I tell you it’s wise to keep calm amidst stressful situations, would you laugh it away saying it’s impossible? How to stay calm and cool It may sound counterproductive to many that staying cool and composed in a stressful situation may worsen the situation. A person’s first thought to stress is to react and not respond. But remember, stress is a mental construct and something which you can change through perception. In many regions, the moment someone sees a snake, the first reaction is to grab a stick and kill the snake, assuming it to be poisonous and further, that it will bite me. One can very well undertake to pick the snake and release it in the wild. Here are some of the ways that I’ve found to work in any given stressful situation and how you can go about it: Read more....
