Day 10 & 11: Under Pressure!!!

Day 10 & 11:  Under Pressure!!!

Actually, I have felt pretty relaxed despite a crazy few days on my school campus (a baby bear has been coming to visit).  Thanks to the real life teddy bear walking around and a more chilled state,  I have started to ponder the idea of self induced pressure.
Being a middle school teacher, I'm constantly talking about peer pressure.  I work my Sunday school best when I remind students about the dangers of succumbing to negative pressure from friends and aquaintences.  "March to the beat of your own drum," I prance from one end of the classroom to the other.  "Just say no!" I declare with finger zig zags.  And finally, just to give myself a giggle because we all know that this is the best and worst of all peer pressure advice, "If so and so jumped off a cliff, would you?"
But I often notice that when it comes to the slipperiness of self induced pressure the conversation doesn't seem to be as rich. Over the years, I have learned to put a lot of pressure on myself.  I even see it in my young students.  They want to be perfect even if it means putting themselves under a lot of negative stress.  I try to steer them away from the need to be perfect, perform, and get things right all the time and have them focus on the joy of learning and growing.  But truth be told, I need to focus on the joy of learning and growing just as much as they do.
Friend and philosopher Dr. Cathy Collautt once told me that pressure closes things off and has a destructive quality.  Hence, if you put pressure on a relationship, it will not blossom.  If you put pressure on your financial situation, the money will not flow.  If you put pressure on yourself to be the perfect friend, mother, wife, boyfriend, etc, you will get in your own way. 
Instead, we do the crazy of the craziest.  We stop forcing ourselves into being a good and start trusting that we are good.
Bottom line.  Pressure is not all that.
(unless we are talking about bleeding or David Bowie and Queen collaborations)

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