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1. Believe in destiny. Why do you think that you can control everything in your life? It only builds up tension and guilt. Don`t you know a large part of life has been pre-ordained? Once you accept that, tension will seep away.

2. Work is the panacea for all evils. Keep yourself busy from dawn to dusk. At the end of the day you will have no inclination to brood. You`re longing for your bed.

3. Holy Scriptures from every religion talk of bad times being a part of life. Be it Lord Rama, Jesus, Mohammad or Buddha, you`ll find that they all had to endure ordeals in various ways. How could you then, hope to avoid it?

4. Prayer/meditation. We didn`t know modern breathing techniques or the Art of Living courses that you speak of. We were taught to meditate on the Lord. Our Shlokas had to be articulated in a particular way - that took care of breath and voice control.

5. Yoga. Some of the lucky ones got to learn Yoga. And that was the best source of mental strength.

6. Cry, sigh and smile. We were allowed a good cry. Then we had to learn to sigh and smile. With time, it becomes a part of your ability to cope.

7. Avoid self-pity. Why do you younger people act like the world has come to an end when things go wrong? We weren`t allowed to wallow in self-pity. We knew bad times could be endured. We just did what we had to.

8. Oil massages. Every week, maybe even twice a week we had oil massages and hot baths. They were therapeutic and healthy.

9. The storm will pass. Nothing is permanent. The bad times will pass too.

10. Let food be your medicine. Didn`t Hippocrates say that? Certain kinds of food will alleviate tension and depression.

11. Accept stress as a part of life. It cannot be avoided. And with acceptance comes the healing process.

12. Remove the source of stress if possible. Do all that you can. And leave the rest to destiny.