Overcoming Life’s Pressures
Pressure is everywhere. We cannot deny that.
Life pressures are so many, ranging from peer pressure, pressure from the family, pressure from school, pressure from the workplace — the list is endless.
But for the purpose of this teaching, I will be categorizing pressure in two:
- Societal Pressure
- Self-imposed pressure
The things we see and hear have greatly increased the pressure around us and social media is not helping matters.
Even before the advent of technology, pressure has been existing and will continue to exist.
But when you arm yourself with the right knowledge, you will be able to set yourself free and go on to live your best life.
Societal Pressure
A lot of teenagers want to gain admission into the university at the age of 14, 15, 16, …
Young people want to get married at the age of twenty-something. They get married and in-laws are asking, “When will you give us grandchildren?”
You finish from the higher institution and you’re asked, “When will you get a job?” You get a job, you’re asked, “When will you buy a car?”
Even babies are faced with pressure. “When will you start walking? When will you grow your first teeth? When will you stop breastfeeding?” The list is endless.
Even when you are old, people start to ask indirectly, “When will you die?”
Society has put us all into a corner and it seems like we cannot escape from the pressures around us but I have good news for you.
You can overcome them and live your best life.
Self-Imposed Pressure
This is the pressure we put on ourselves, not the society this time.
We see our friends doing great things and the next thing we ask is, “God when?”
For this type of pressure, we are the ones that have allowed ourselves to suffer from it because we do not understand what we have to do to overcome it.
But follow me, and I trust that you will get light.
Another reason why we get into self-imposed pressure is not because of social media or our friends. It is because we don’t set realistic goals.
We have work to do but we don’t sit down to calculate the right
amount of time we will need to finish it.
We start building a house without first counting the cost. For some of us, we don’t count the cost.
We give ourselves unrealistic timelines and before you know it,
we have entered into pressure.
How do you know you ‘re under pressure and what’s the effect of pressure?
- You lose your peace
When you’re under pressure, you’re not yourself and when you’re not yourself, you’re not living your best life. Losing your peace could result in loss of sleep and your health deteriorates.
Pressure can lead to death and that’s why you need to overcome and avoid it like a plague. - Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
One of the ways to know that you are under pressure is FOMO. You always want to check what other people are doing. You want to see if they are doing better than you or if you’re doing better than them.
The only person you should be in a competition with is yourself. - You think someone else is better than you
No one is better than you. You were created uniquely and for a purpose. No one can do things you do or do them the way you will. You have to understand this so that you can improve your self-esteem, move on from there and live your best life. But this starts only when you start to see yourself differently. - You want to do what others are doing
When you do this, you’re under pressure! We are ignorant of our purpose, abilities, strengths and the plans that God has for us. Our ignorance leads us to chase shadows and before we know it, we are into pressure and we are gradually killing ourselves without knowing.
When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.
When you allow yourself to be carried away by life pressures, you’re abusing yourself.
How do you overcome pressure and live your best life?
- Set realistic goals
You can be anything you want to be but you need to first know what you want to be, then plan towards it. Don’t just set goals. Set SMART goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, Time-bound goals.
Push yourself. Don’t allow life pressures get at you. The only pressure you should allow is the one you put on yourself through self-discipline. Discipline yourself. Push yourself. You can do it. - Praise
I know you might be wondering, “How does Praise help one overcome life pressures?” This is something that has worked for me personally and that’s why I’m sharing it.
When you engage in praises, it helps you forget about yourself and focus on the person of God, helping you to cast all your cares and pressures on Him. He can do all things for you.
One thing praise does for you is that it brings about gratitude in you. You cannot praise God and not appreciate His person.
Praise and gratitude are very crucial in living a life without pressure. - Understand the purpose of God for your life
My purpose is not your purpose. If you understand this, you will not be in competition with others but instead, you will learn to complement others and help them achieve their purpose too. A lot of us do not know how we can know our purpose but I will teach us how to know. - Pray
Under prayer, there are two things I will like to explain — how prayer can help you find your purpose and how prayer can help you overcome pressure.
Prayer is talking to God and who else is best to ask about your purpose if it is not the One who created you. Ask Him with desire in your heart to really know it and He will show you. When you understand it, you will know you’re different from others and you will know that your path is not my path. Your vision will be clearer.
There are times that we know our purpose but still experience pressure. With prayer, you can lighten every burden on your heart. Just tell it to God. He knows all that you’re going through and He will help you. Just talk to Him. - Practice being in the presence of God
You need God everyday. You cannot deny this. A lot of us get into pressure because we think we know everything or and can do all things on our own. Sometimes, all you need is one single instruction from God and then you know what next to do.
We are sometimes in pressure because we don’t know what to do. We go about running helter-skelter because we have failed to ask God what should have been done in a particular situation. This has put some of us into trouble and before we know it, there’s pressure everywhere. There’s one prayer I always pray and I’m sure we all can start praying it too. Simple prayers like: “God, lead me”, can do wonders such that your feet don’t go to places that will land you into trouble.
You don’t need long prayers. All you need is short heartfelt prayers.
6. Understand that one thing is needful per time.
A lot of us have quite a lot of things we want to do at once when we can just take one step at a time and do them one by one. If you focus on doing one thing per time, it will reduce the pressure on your life, you will be focused and more productive.
Even if you forget all other things from here, don’t forget that one thing is needful per time.
Thank you for reading!
You can send me personal questions on Twitter and through email, and I will respond as soon as I can.
Twitter: @maryabiodun01
Email: maryabiodun01@gmail.com