All of us go through ups and downs in our lives. Irrespective of our age and occupation, it is natural to experience highs and lows for everyone in their life. Our life is always like a wave on the sea shore. There would be crests and troughs and we need to learn to deal with both of them.

Some of us experience lows in our personal life or career and get very disturbed by it. It is natural to feel bad when you go through a low in your life. After all, each of us want to enjoy our life every day ,in whatever way we like to. However, when a trough hits us, it is like a unanticipated tsunami.

The universal truth is that ,everyone in this world ,will go through these cycles of life. There will be some days when we feel we are on top of the Himalayas and other days when we may feel like an ostrich and want to put our head under the sand.

The first step in such situations is “acceptance” of the reality. In today’s world, the overwhelming social media has denied most of us of good friends in life, whom we could talk to and confide. In today’s world, psychiatric diseases are as prevalent as physical ones. If we accept, we have a problem, then we can easily solve it.

We do not hesitate to go to a doctor to treat cough, cold or fever. then, why we do hesitate to go to a psychiatrist ,when are feeling low mentally. It is as simple as that. A medical doctor treats a physical disease and a psychiatrist treats a mental illness. Just like our body has breakdowns in the form of fever or pain etc ,so does our mind have issues like depression or sleeplessness etc.

Our everyday life today is becoming hectic and sometimes we make it more complicated by our own deeds. We have to believe that we are the masters of our own destiny. We have to decide how our life has to be ? What is the right pace to follow and when to start or stop something ?

Even at the workplace, we have to decide what is the right balance between work and life. We have to decide what is the nature of work we want to do and how much we want to ? If we feel over stressed at work, it is worthwhile to consult a psychiatrist just like we would consult a doctor if we get a pain in the leg.

Similarly in our personal lives, if we continually feel low for no predictable reason, we need to consult a psychiatrist to understand what we need to do ,to manage it. Everything in life is under our direct control. The steering of our lives has always to be in our own hands. If we allow others to use our steering, then we have nobody else to blame than ourselves.

Life is seldom black or white. It is mostly grey. But we can convert it into black or white ,by taking control of our own lives. We can seek the help of family or friends, who are willing to listen to us. We can seek the help of doctors, social workers, counsellors or psychiatrists when the need arises.

Lets steer our life always and determine our destiny.

S Ramesh Shankar

16th February 2023