Obinna Igwegbe

In this modern day and age, people work tirelessly for long duration and it seem like striking a balance between work and relaxation can be challenging. Certain things must be taken into consideration that is associated with personal relationships, career, finances and even physical and mental health. The inability to strike this all important balance is the main reason why stress is a common decimal for lots of people which inadvertently affect their work performance.

Many people find it difficult to separate work from everyday life while others are passionate about their jobs and these could be overwhelming. Some people feel that their career control their lives and this poses several health risks like; neck strain, headaches, back pains, sleeping disorders and even bad mood.

To maintain a healthy and productive life, it is essential to find a balance between work and relaxation. This in effect simply means knowing when to break off from work stress and take things easy. Some ways that can help in managing our increasingly busy work life and balance it with the need for relaxation are found below;

1. Start your day right and be on top of things

Most individuals begin their day with a complacent disposition when they wake up in the morning. They leave their day to the uncertainty of chance and they spare no thought on prioritizing and being on top of their daily activities. Such attitude could hinder productivity for that day. It is essential to start the day right, plan the day ahead so you can be ahead.

2. Knowing the importance of ‘ME’ time

No matter how busy your daily activities turn out to be after prioritizing, it is of importance to take a break at intervals to relax and free up your mind no matter how little time you can muster for this. The ‘me’ time could be watching your favorite television show, reading a book or going to a spa. Remember spending quality time for yourself is important for your overall wellbeing.

3. Have a stress free environment

It is essential to make your home or work environment a stress free place either naturally or artificially to make you feel happy and calm. You may add more plants in your home, put favorite photographs or art works. Furthermore, pay attention to your environment’s ergonomic design by having the right type of working chairs or table, proper lightning and ventilation

4. Eat healthy

People most times consciously or subconsciously suppress hunger especially when they have a busy daily schedule, this is a wrong life style. It is important to eat healthy and in moderation. Also eating slowly can help you digest your food better. Lunch breaks/coffee breaks shouldn’t be just about eating or drinking coffee. Use free time to relax so that you’ll have renewed energy to go back to work.

5. Meet new people

Introverts are always known to spend more time reading books and staying in their thoughts, much as this is a desirable activity to engage in and it may be their own way of relaxing, it is important to note that networking and socializing with new people is vital. Setting out in a day you should have a mindset of being outgoing, enthusiastic and active. Having fun with friends can help you deal with work better while meeting new people can improve your social skills and intellect.

(Dealing with Conflicts in the family)

Conflict is a natural fallout of social interactions. Indeed the differences that exists in the needs, desires and idiosyncrasies of people make for an environment suitable for conflicts. It must be mentioned that conflict is not necessarily a bad thing, it can actually be a good thing as it provides differing angles to situations and things. Rather unfortunately, many of the violence that the world has known and as a matter of fact that is still bedeviling the human race today is people’s inability to tolerate and cope with differing views, beliefs and attitude. Well of course people may hold very outrageous positions on situations and things, that may be very difficult to come to terms with, but then that is what makes the human race an interesting collection of beings. Such differing views must be addressed with some level of empathy and understanding.

The sad situation of intolerance to differences regrettably finds its way into the family unit. It is a given that a family is the smallest social organization with interacting parties, and hence a perfect place to gain firsthand experience on conflict and conflict resolution. Today, with the increase in failed marriages and abusive relationships, we can easily see that intolerance has its roots in many families. Couples unable to come to terms with the fact that first and foremost their spouses have a right to be different and to hold differing views and also that differing views can be handled and managed in such a way that it can be a strength rather than a weakness for the family, have given up on beautiful relationships. Such prejudice are a product of some sort of stereotypes that ascribe some sort of expectations to our spouses; expectations that they must and should hold views similar to ours thereby abhorring every disposition to the contrary.

I saw a quote once that perfectly describes how conflicts and disagreement should be handled, especially with regards to people’s belief and attitudes, the quote reads “do not judge me until you walk in my shoes”. Empathy defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of others should inform every conflict especially within a family, we must “Turn the tables around”. We must recognize people’s difference and appreciate them, especially when they were formed by circumstances different from ours. Acting without empathizing with other people’s position is akin to acting in malice. According to American liberal journalist Charles M. Blow “One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm, the absence of understanding and empathy is sufficient”.  Children must be taught to recognize that there will be times when people will not meet their expectations, when people will not hold their position and when people’s belief will be completely alien to theirs. They must be taught to recognize these differences and embrace them. They are what make us unique. As a family, being diverse is our strength, it makes us resilient. We must not be quick to admonish or advice from our standpoint, empathy and understanding must precede advice. Just because you are right does not mean the other person is wrong, it could just be that the person has a different looking glass. Bill Bullard affirms that “Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self-kind of understanding”.

Culled from jw.org

Contributed by Adesekhai Francis

An acquaintance falls to the ground, unconscious. His body stiffens, and his head and limbs begin to convulse. If you know that the person suffers from epilepsy, you can provide adequate assistance while waiting for help. Let us explore some basic facts about this often misunderstood disorder

What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a brain disorder that produces brief attacks called seizures. The entire seizure usually lasts less than five minutes. The situation described at the outset of this article is typical of what is called a grand mal seizure.

What causes seizures?

Researchers believe that seizures occur when there is an abnormal surge of electrical activity between brain cells. Just why this happens remains unclear

If I see someone with epilepsy having a grand mal seizure, what I should do?

Bystanders  should let the attack run its course and not  interfere with the patient, beyond checking to make sure the person is in no physical danger and can breathe, ”says the encyclopedia of the brain and brain disorders. On the other hand, the book says: “An ambulance should be called if the seizures continues for more than five minutes, if another seizures immediately follows the first or if the person does not regain consciousness a few minutes after the seizures ends

How can I help the patient while he is having a seizures?

Place a soft object between his head and the floor, and move sharp objects away from his head. When the convulsion stop, turn the patient on his side as shown in the accompany diagram

What should I do after the patient awakens?

First assure him that everything is all right. Then help him to stand upright and guide him to a place where he can get needed rest. Most people are confused and sleepy after a seizure; others recover quickly and can continue what they were doing before the attack.

Do all epileptic seizures include convulsion?

No. some patients experience a moment of impaired awareness without even falling to the ground. This is called a petit mal seizure (or absence seizure), which is usually brief with no lingering aftereffects. Some people with epilepsy undergo prolonged petit mal seizures, lasting several minutes. In such a case, the patient may wander around the room, tug at his clothing, or otherwise behave strangely. After the seizure, he may feel light headed

What is it like to live with epilepsy?

Understandably, many people with epilepsy contend with a nagging fear of when and where the next seizure will occur. To avoid embarrassment, they may intend to avoid social situations

How can I give support to someone who has epilepsy?

Encourage him not to bottle up his feelings. Be a good listener. Ask him what he would like you to do if he has a seizure. Since many people with epilepsy do not drive, perhaps you could offer a ride or run some errands for him

Can seizures be reduced or even prevented?

Some factors increase the likelihood of a seizure, such as stress and lack of sleep. Experts therefore encourage epileptics to get proper rest and to exercise regularly in order to reduce stress. In some cases, indications have also been effective in preventing seizures

I can safely say that people generally are a product of their beliefs. What we are, what we have and what we will become are all a function of our belief. In truth, you can never be more than the sum total of all your beliefs. It therefore means that if we must attain any level of success in anything we do or plan to do, we must first get there at the level of belief we must convince ourselves that we can. Very often because of its subtlety, people do not realize what a belief system is first and foremost and that every single day, they are in the process of their belief system being created.

This write attempts to unveil what our belief systems are, and to give us an insight on how they work and how they are being created.

Your belief system are those things you hold as true about yourself, things and people around you and the world generally. They are like the silent voices in your head that influence how you appraise reality. Many people have called it our internal conditioning that gives individual meaning to the world out there and who we are. Significantly, our belief system is located in a portion of our mind we have no conscious control over. It is almost like the software programmed into a computer system that gives functionality to the computer system. Many of us grew up in communities that have folklores and superstitions that passed down through generations by stories told by forebears and parents. Such stories and folklores that are held as true by members of such communities become part of the basis for how people from that community ultimately view reality. There is a community in Delta state that reveres the reptile Iguana, which they see as deity. Such belief system created by stories told by forebears about the reptile inadvertently informs the behavior towards that portion of reality (the reptile); they don’t kill the reptile, and they allow it enter their houses at will. This clearly shows that our beliefs are created by the things we have heard and read about ourselves, other people, things and the world around us; which in any case may be true or false. Our beliefs can also be created and/or influenced by experiences gotten from our interactions with reality, and the people with whom we spend our time. All your life you have heard, seen and experienced things, we have interacted with people, and this all currently now form the basis of why you perceive things the way you perceive them, almost as if the old adage “seeing is believing” is more appropriately reversed to “believing is seeing”. In other words, we see what we believe. For the purpose of this article, self-belief is our primary interest. This is because your belief about yourself and your abilities determine your capabilities. The things you decide to do or not do depends chiefly on your belief about yourself and things. According to Brian Tracy, “you always act in a manner consistent with your beliefs, especially beliefs about yourself”. For example, while growing up, it is a belief among girls that Mathematics and Engineering are fields for men, and this belief largely attests to the rather few female engineers and mathematicians we have around until relatively recently. It is such limiting beliefs that creates the fear that cripples the creativity needed to excel in mathematical and engineering fields, and not necessarily because men have better intellectual capacities. It is all a function of belief.

How many times have you been told that you cannot do a thing well, that it is beyond your capacity, see how powerless it can make you feel before that thing when you believe it. I am one of those people who believed that mathematics was too difficult and I could never be good at it, and true to it, I never learnt mathematics well enough to pass it with a good grade during my secondary school days, probably because of the kind of teacher I had earlier mathematics was painted as a very difficult subject. This negative belief followed me into my earlier days in the university, until I “re-created” my beliefs about my mathematical abilities, then I started teaching my colleagues statistics, which requires a relatively strong mathematical background. All that changed was my belief about mathematics, and then my behavior towards it changed, and then it unraveled itself before me. Your belief influences your behavior which in turn affects your outcome. A time ago, it was believed that nobody could run a mile in less than four minutes. It was thought that the human body lacked the ability to sustain such feat. Everybody but Roger Banister believed it. After Roger Banister broke the four minute barrier in 1954 by running a mile within four minutes, other runners duplicated the feat within months. Right now records have been broken that completely rubbished the former belief of the inability of the human body to run a mile in four minutes. What changed in the runners after Banister did it? Belief, and their body responded. The good book admonishes that nothing is impossible to the man who believes. We are only limited by our belief system and pattern of thoughts. Henry Ford said “If you think you can or you think you cannot, you are right”.

One of the free gifts given to every man is “LAUGHTER” and it’s a natural medicine that lifts our spirit and makes us happy. Laughter is contagious and physiological activity that does not necessarily require a mental trigger; you can get into a bout of laughter just by being in an environment of laughter. It brings people together, strengthens friendship as well as makes us feel more alive and empowered.

Laughter is an excellent way to reduce stress in our lives and can help you cope with and survive a stressful lifestyle. Naturally the body cannot distinguish between real and fake laughter, however anything that makes you laugh would definitely have a positive impact. You don’t need to be happy or have a sense of humor to benefit from a good laugh.

LAUGHTER THERAPY

Another consideration when it comes to laughter is its therapeutic effect also known as “LAUGHTER THERAPHY” which is the use of humor to promote overall health and wellness by providing a full scale workout for your muscles and unleashes endorphins which relieves physical or emotional stresses or discomfort.

In the workplace laughter therapy helps keep employees happier and more committed and improves their overall inter-personal skills. Some of the physical benefits of laughter therapy are considered below;

• Produces a General Sense of Wellbeing
• Reduces Stress/Relaxation
• Pain Relief
• Strengthens Social Bonds and Relationship
• Heart and Lungs Stimulation
• Relaxation of Body Muscles

• Balance mental functions (i.e., alertness, memory, creativity)

• Triggers the Release of Endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers)
• Enhances Oxygen Intake
• Soothes Stomach Aches and Aids Digestion
• Balances Blood Pressure
• Enhances the Quality of Life
• Promotes Relaxation