Who has not faced a crisis in his/her life? All of us do? The difference is in our response. Our response defines and decides our ultimate success in a crisis. Let us look at this

Calm - Some of us are very calm during a crisis. They will not easily show their emotions. Their mind might be under turmoil but their actions will not reveal that. This gives great confidence to others around. Calmness has another virtue. With calm mind, we can think coolly and decide about the course of action. That can increase the chance of success manifold.

Surrender - many of us give in as soon as a crisis appears. We are left with no strength to fight it. We don’t believe that we can over come the crisis and surrender. Our mind stos all-creative thinking and accepts the failure.

Disturbed - many of us get greatly perturbed during a crisis. We are so disturbed that we don’t know what to do. Our mind runs hither thither and we are totally confused. This creates real panic and confusion around and leads to failure most of the times.

Crisis has come. By getting disturbed or surrendering, it will not go away. Why not face it calmly. Why not count all the losses and try to recover what is left. Why not plan for future and go ahead accepting the losses cheerfully? These qualities make a winner in life.

Living in our world today can be very stressful. While some of the stress that we experience is actually useful for motivating us, a point can be reached where it becomes very harmful, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Knowing how to manage and even reduce the harmful effects of stress on a daily basis, of staying balanced and centered as we encounter the many stressors of everyday living, is crucial to our well being. Among other things, taking care of ourselves will necessarily involve us nurturing our physical body, of eating healthy foods, of exercising. Learning how to take care of ourselves in this respect is also very important for everyone as our experience of stress can and does affect others as well.

Learning how to take care of ourselves also involves making appropriate distinctions about ourselves, others and life in general. One distinction that is crucial for our well being is realizing how and from where much of our stress is primarily generated. While some of the stressors that we face are apart of what it is to be a human being, much of the stress that we experience is of our own creation. A great deal of the stress that we experience has its origin in our own personal story and the meaning we make about life, in the thoughts that we think. Once we understand that we are truly the cause in the matter, that we are responsible for the thoughts that we create or invent and that it is from these thoughts that much of our stress is generated, then and only then will we begin to be able to truly manage our stress and have the power to live the life that we want and love. Blaming others or situations for that which we experience will only limit our power, lead to frustration and eventually a great deal of stress.

Becoming present to the fact that we have a tendency to constantly evaluate, judge and even blame others, and especially ourselves, is very important. How we conceive of others and ourselves in this respect will make a huge difference in our experience of life. For example, for some much of their life is spent attempting to make others and themselves wrong, wrong for what they think and do, wrong for what we think and do. Once we make another wrong, especially ourselves, anger, anxiety, guilt, frustration and even sadness will eventually follow and with it a great deal of stress. A simple truth is that as human beings we are all doing the best that we can at any given moment. If we or others knew differently we would behave differently.