Being stronger with pressure!

 Stress. Pressure. We work under it. We are driven by it. We suppress it. We deny it and try to escape it. We take vitamins for it. We feel it in our chest. Our stomach churns. Our palms get sweaty. And all of us are squeezed by it.

So then, how must we learn to view stress in our lives? Perhaps the burdens we desire to “cast-off” are those that God wants to use in our lives to press us to Him—to cause us to trust Him. Totally. Completely. Without reservation.

The following parable of Sadhu Sundar Singh, a Hindu convert to Christianity, beautifully illustrates how God wants to use burdens and heavy pressures in our lives.

Shortly after coming to Christ, Sadhu felt called to become a missionary to India. Late one afternoon Sadhu was traveling on foot through the Himalayas with a Buddhist monk. It was bitter cold and the wind felt like a cold blade slicing into Sadhu’s skin. Night was fast approaching when the monk warned Sadhu that they were in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before darkness fell.

so how to deal with it?

Recognize ongoing sources of pressure

Recognizing that you are under pressure is the first step to eliminating stress in your life. The best way to do it is to stop at different times during the day, especially when you feel discomfort, and ask yourself, “What is the feeling I have right now?”

Review your life to find sources of pressure

Some people will find it hard to write down what causes their pressure, because it accumulates and reaches a peak where it is too stressful, turns on the primitive brain and makes them see snakes and lions everywhere. As I said, when you are in that state of pressure, it is hard to see exactly when the lion came from, or what led the snake to you.

If that is you, you will have to examine aspects of your life when you are calm and relaxed, in a comfortable place, by yourself or surrounded by loved ones and people who support you. Only in the thinking state, you can find the sources of pressure in your life.

I know that when you are in a good state, you don’t want to think about pressure and stress, but trust me, it is a good strategy in general to review things and make decisions when you are in a clam state and not when you are in the middle of a heated situation.

Merge sources of pressure and shrink your list

Group your pressures and sources of pressure. When making a list of pressure points, it is easy to find out that some of them are in fact the same issue with different presentations. When we make a list, we think we have lots of pressures, but when we group them, our list will become much shorter.

Why is this important? Because it helps us focus on what needs to be changed. For example: I feel pressure from the kids to buy things, I feel pressure from my partner to stop spending and I feel pressure when I want to buy myself something that I consider too expensive. All of these stressors are in fact one financial pressure that clutters every decision about spending money.

It is easy to work on this as one issue. I can set a budget for everything and then I can stick to the budget and use it to deal calmly with my partner and my kids. The decision to buy something will no longer be emotional. It will be a choice. So, if this year has enough budget for shoes, I’m going to buy them. Easy!