Psychological and social strategies to stay healthy should be the focus in proactive maintenance of our individual all round well being.
How travel away from home/work environments and general involvement in tourism activities become advantageous to our living long healthier lives is the treatise here.
Modern life has indeed become so fast-paced and stressful; that it is unavoidably necessary to manage our stress levels. We can learn to live with the inevitable wear and tear of living a ‘normal’ life. Instead of relying on tranquilizers or sessions with psychologists.
Adequate relaxation supported with proper diet and exercise in itself is effective antidote to reducing high blood pressure, a major cause of heart disease, stroke, and a contributing factor to numerous debilitating diseases.
Stress must be combated head on by each person; the initial level of this deadly killer may be positive and desirable, it facilitates and prepares one to face challenges.
‘Eustress’ ensures optimum arousal of body mechanisms to rise appropriately to challenges; in either flee of fight situations.
However, beyond this level is a propensity to over arousal, known as ‘debilitating stress’; and when sustained by the body, exposes the individual to a variety of illnesses.
Earliest symptoms are flu, cough, due to weakened immune system. Sustained stress further causes a perpetual sense of hurry, hostility and time urgency, occasioned by maximum pressure. This results in trying to think and work on two or more projects simultaneously.
Enthusiasm, mental clarity, objectivity, innovation and constructive output are products of optimum stress levels. However, a tip over from this productive peak caused by excessive pressure from societal demands, an individual’s productive output begins to decline due to the over taxing of the stress tolerance level.
Unchecked, irritable strained interpersonal relationships, inefficiency, memory lapses, physical and mental fatigue, inevitably sets in.
At this point, a deliberate decision to spend leisurely time, engage strictly in non-regular schedules, away from home and work needs to be activated.
Delegate those responsibilities to others and take a well deserved break. Travel to another location, as distant as you can afford and for as long as you can get away with it.
Holiday should be devoid of extended duties, too much walking and brain fatigue from excessive shopping. Visit resorts.
Even while at your humdrum daily chores, evening and weekends outings to musical concerts, theme parks and partying, could be relieving on the short term.
Taking short and long leisurely breaks is not an elitist engagement, it is a proactive and healing choice toward the sustenance of good health and longer productive life.
It should be entrenched in every individual’s life.
Vacations will take us back to the positive side of optimum stress level.
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