Overcome fatigue and loneliness

Today’s guest blogger is Gyanish Gungaram of Diethack. We are entering the “home stretch” of the Desiderata Series. Thanks to everyone for your participation.

 Solitude is the playfield of Satan. – Pale Fire, 1962. – Vladimir Nabokov

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. I’m sure most of you must have experienced this at one time of their life. I’ve done so many times because I’m living alone in a foreign country with no close ones nearby. As the loneliness creeps in and you start to feel the fatigue of the day to day stress, you start feeling that you will not be able to cope further with this kind of life. You start to feel all kinds of fears overwhelming you. Fear of not waking up in time next day, fear of maldiagnosing a patient due to stress (I’m a med student), fear of not eating well, fear of not being prepared in time for the exams, fear of loneliness (when you do not have a partner) and other kinds of fears. I’m a practical person and for me and I believe in simple practical solutions to overcome the distress caused by fears. Here are five tips I use to get rid of my fears:

1. Music: Everytime I return from work, I listen to music. For me a song from Coldplay or James Blunt always boost up my mood ultimately.
2. Exercise: Nothing beats a good pushup to get rid of your fear. The adrenaline you generate during a good sweat tends to disrupt the tension of your body and make you more relax. So take to the road when you feel the fear creeping on you.
3. Positive Attitude: Although I’m a practical person, I consider harnessing a positive attitude a weapon against fear. Not everybody can shake off fear with a positive attitude but if you manage this feat, you will find yourself less and less fearful.
4. Stress your mind: Sometimes a good dose of stress can cause wonder to your body. Have you ever noticed that you are worrying about something and when you start doing other things, you tend to forget about the things you were worrying about. So when you start to feel the fear coming, shake it off by concentrating on other tasks.
5. Smile and Laugh: K. Stone has written extensively on this subject but I would like to make a special mention of it. Laughing and smiling do have an effect on your overall mood and attitude. They tend to relax the facial muscles and thus provoke a feeling of contentment and joy inside of you. So smile away to get rid of the fear.

Getting rid of fear is never easy. But once you managed to make it disappear even for a few minutes, then you will be able to further push it away.