Lesson's from Nobel Library #1

Hmmmm… I am writing this to escape from the pressures of school.

That is actually pretty dumb to say; most things in life don’t give pressure. A car on top of my leg would probably give me some substantial pressure. I imagine a piano on the head would cause some substantial damage to me too. But things like school work, final exams, being late, meeting new people, public speaking, trying something new (etc.) don’t apply any pressure. All the pressure comes from personal expectations and fears of not being able to meet them. (I think a nifty name for those pressures could be stress. Maybe I’ll patent that.) Even having someone else yell at you doesn’t really apply pressure; it is their attempt to apply pressure but it has to be accepted. The majority of life’s stresses seem to be self inflicted by perspective and expectation.

I don’t think that is necessarily bad though. We choose who we become by the challenges we accept and decline; the pressure we put on ourselves to overcome the challenge has a large amount to do with how we succeed. That is why “Dave the Organic Hippie” at McDonalds won’t ever go anywhere. He doesn’t care about anything as long as weed grows and Nintendo comes out with new games. However, I am slowly becoming aware that it is also important to turn the pressure down as well. It dawned on me the other day after a 17 hour study day (yeah I know). I read the instruction manual that came with me the other day and I guess my brain is in danger of rupturing past 150 "psi" ("pressure" per square inch…I am such nerd). So that is one of my goals for this semester: to chillax; even though I have a course load that could kill a water buffalo if consumed in its liquid form. Paper cuts and pressure could kill me this semester so I am trying to avoid them both.