Seorang Tok Batin baru membeli motosikal Honda dan kebetulan pada jalan pulang terserempak dengan kawannya yang ingin menumpang, lalu ditumpangkan kawannya itu. Dalam perjalanan kawannya merasakan Tok Batin hanya menggunakan gear 1 sahaja lalu bertanyalah kawannya itu, Kawan Tok Batin : Kenapak kamu hanya pakai gear 1sahaja. Tok Batin : Kalau rosak 1 gear ada 2 lagi gear. Kawan Tok Batin : ???????? Moralnya: Kalau ada motor jagalah baik-baik sebelum dia marah dan jem di mana-mana...

Kamu Adalah Begitu

Ada satu peristiwa tentang seorang budak, Svetaketu Aruneya namanya telah disuruh oleh

ayahnya pergi menuntut ilmu dan menjadi seorang murid yang bijaksana. Ketika dia

berpergian dia baru berumur dua belas tahun. Selepas dia menamatkan pengajian Kitab

Vedas, dan ketika dia sudah berumur dua puluh empat tahun, dia kembali menemui

bapanya, berbangga dengan ilmu pengetahuan yang sudah dipelajari serta dengan perasaan

memandang tinggi akan dirinya sendiri.

Melihatkan keadaan ini, bapanya berkata kepadanya, Svetaketu, anakku, kamu nampaknya

memandang tinggi akan dirimu sendiri, kamu fikir kamu sudah cukup terpelajar, dan kamu

seorang yang megah. Pernahkah kamu bertanyakan perihal ilmu yang dengannya apa yang

tidak didengari itu didengari, apa yang tidak terfikir itu terfikir, dan apa yang

tidak diketahui itu diketahui?"

"Apakah ilmunya itu, wahai bapaku?" tanya Svetaketu.

"Dengan mengetahui segumpal tanah liat, anakku, semua tanah liat boleh diketahui, kerana

sebarang perbezaan hanyalah kata-kata dan hakikatnya adalah tanah liat; dan dengan

mengetahui seketul emas semua emas boleh diketahui, kerana sebarang perbezaan hanyalah

kata-kata dan hakikatnya ia hanyalah emas..."

Svetaketu berkata, "Sudah pasti guru-guruku yang terhormat tidak mengetahui akan hal ini.

Jika mereka mengetahuinya, mengapa mereka tidak mengajarkannya kepadaku?"

"Jadi, biarkan ia begitu, wahai anakku. Bawa kemari sebiji buah daripada pokok banyan

ini."

"Nah, ini buahnya, wahai bapaku."

"Pecahkannya."

"Ia sudah pecah, wahai bapaku."

"Apa yang kamu lihat di dalamnya?"

"Biji-biji yang sangat kecil, wahai bapaku."

"Pecahkan sebiji daripadanya, wahai anakku."

"Ia sudah dipecahkan, wahai bapaku."

"Apa yang kamu lihat di dalamnya?"

"Tidak ada apa-apa, wahai bapaku."

Kemudian bapanya pun berkata: "Wahai anakku, daripada zat di dalam biji yang kamu tidak

dapat lihat apa-apa di dalamnya itulah datangnya (wujudnya) sebatang pokok banyan yang

nyata ini."

"Percayalah,wahai anakku, bahawa zat yang tidak dapat dilihat dan paling sulit untuk

dijelaskan itu adalah roh kepada seluruh alam. Itulah kenyataan dan hakikat. Itulah Atman.

Kamu Adalah Begitu."

~ The World's Wisdom

PERANAN PENGETUA SEBAGAI KAUNSELOR SATU CABARAN ALAF BARU

Di sekolah seorang pengetua berhadapan dengan ribuan insan yang pelbagai ragam dan personaliti. Kita tidak perlu lagi mendendangkan lagu lama cara kita dididik dahulu. Ia telah berlalu ditelan zaman. Manusia yang menimbulkan masalah di sekolah tidaklah terlalu ramai. Kesabaran dan ketenangan tetapi penuh kemahiran diperlukan dalam menghadapi manusia bermasalah di sekolah. Oleh itu, telah sampai masanya kita sebagai Pengetua berperanan sebagai seorang kaunselor di sekolah pada hari ini walaupun ada diantara sekolah kita mempunyai kaunselor sepenuh masa.

Diantara sifat seorang kaunselor yang perlu ada pada seorang pengetua ialah sedia mendengar dan sedia menolong. Dengar dahulu apa saja aduan, rintihan dan kemarahan orang lain kemudian barulah membuat pertimbangan dan keputusan, bersedialah untuk menolong apa sahaja permasalahan yang perlu kita bersama menyelesaikannya.

Daripada kemahiran mendengar kita akan dapat melahirkan kemahiran-kemahiran yang lain seperti:

- Memfrasa semula

- Merumus

- Refleksi perasaan

- Konfrontasi

- Refleksi mata

- Soalan terbuka

- Soalan tertutup

- Interpretasi

Ciri-ciri baik seorang kaunselor yang lain (termaktub dalam PERASA) ialah ‘caring, understanding, trusting, accepting, patience, positive thinking, listening, empathy dan assertive’. Selain daripada itu, pengetua juga perlu memiliki beberapa kemahiran seperti:

- Pengurusan masa

- Pengurusan diri

- Mendengar

- Pengurusan tekanan

- Membuat keputusan

- Komunikasi

- Sosial

- Menyelesi masalah

Adunan daripada kemahiran kaunseling dan memahami keperluan asas manusia akan membantu pengetua menyelesaikan masalah di sekolah dengan tenang dan bijaksana. Pelajar dan guru akan menerima pengetua sebagai seorang ayah yang sentiasa memberi bimbingan dan nasihat dan kalaulah menjadi penghukum maka jadilah seorang penghukum yang adil.

Cadangan

Untuk memantapkan pengetua menjadi seorang kaunselor, penulis mencadangkan kepada pihak atasan yang berkaitan dengan pendidikan supaya mengambil beberapa langkah susulan seperti:

1. Mengadakan kursus pendek kemahiran kaunseling kepada semua pengetua diperingkat negeri dan daerah. Kerjasama boleh diperolehi daripada PKPSM dan Majlis Kaunselor Pelajar Negeri.
2. Semua pengetua diwajib menghadiri kursus PERASA yang diperkenalkan oleh IAB.
3. Pengetua perlu membuat sekurang-kurangnya satu kajian kes dalam setahun dan dibentangkan dalam perjumpaan PKPSM.
4. Pengetua yang berminat dalam kaunseling perlu diberi peluang melanjutkan pelajaran ke tahap yang lebih tinggi.
5. Pengetua yang berjaya menyelesaikan masalah di sekolah dengan pendekatan kaunseling perlu diberi pengiktirafan sewajarnya dan dijadikan Pengetua contoh.

Stress Management

What is Stress?

Stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment; it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it.

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How Can I Eliminate Stress from My Life? As we have seen, positive stress adds anticipation and excitement to life, and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Deadlines, competitions, confrontations, and even our frustrations and sorrows add depth and enrichment to our lives. Our goal is not to eliminate stress but to learn how to manage it and how to use it to help us. Insufficient stress acts as a depressant and may leave us feeling bored or dejected; on the other hand, excessive stress may leave us feeling "tied up in knots." What we need to do is find the optimal level of stress which will individually motivate but not overwhelm each of us.

How Can I Tell What is Optimal Stress for Me? There is no single level of stress that is optimal for all people. We are all individual creatures with unique requirements. As such, what is distressing to one may be a joy to another. And even when we agree that a particular event is distressing, we are likely to differ in our physiological and psychological responses to it.

The person who loves to arbitrate disputes and moves from job site to job site would be stressed in a job which was stable and routine, whereas the person who thrives under stable conditions would very likely be stressed on a job where duties were highly varied. Also, our personal stress requirements and the amount which we can tolerate before we become distressed changes with our ages.

It has been found that most illness is related to unrelieved stress. If you are experiencing stress symptoms, you have gone beyond your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the stress in your life and/or improve your ability to manage it.

How Can I Manage Stress Better? Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require work toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?

1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions.

Notice your distress. Don't ignore it. Don't gloss over your problems.

Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events?

Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific ways?

2. Recognize what you can change.

Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely?

Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)?

Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises)? Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)?

3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.

The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger...physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster? Are you expecting to please everyone?

Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every situation?

Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.

Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects and the "what if's."

4. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.

Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.

Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart reate, and blood pressure. Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.

5. Build your physical reserves.

Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rhythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging). Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals.

Maintain your ideal weight.

Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.

Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can.

Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.

6. Maintain your emotional reserves.

Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships.

Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you that you do not share. Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows. Always be kind and gentle with yourself -- be a friend to yourself.