Supposedly it was Henry Kissinger who said that “a diamond is just a piece of coal made good under pressure”. Pressure, tension, and stress are words we use to talk about the pull of multiple responsibilities at the same time. Many of them are self-induced while others are out of our control. Whatever the source, deadlines and the need for more hours in a day can negatively influence our health and lower quality of life.
It is a new school year in my world and students have received syllabi. With cringed faces and contracting bodies, they react to the lists of requirements and assignments that will govern their lives in the coming months. It is almost as if the pressure physically squeezes, forcing people to look down and inward. Suddenly day-to-day life becomes the routine of a series of small chores and activities that, when taken together over several months, collectively fulfill the long-term goal of passing academic courses. Being a professor, sometimes I tell my students that I am that evil presence sitting on their shoulders when they are having a moment of fun with family or friends. My voice whispers in their ear that they should be studying. There is no time for fun.
One remarkable consequence of this panorama is that people become more selfish. Only having time to think about one’s own obligations forces us inward; almost as if the pressure pushes our eyes to the belly. This contraction potentially lasts for long periods and often it takes something external to break the cocoon. This recently happened to me when a car accident in another country resulted in the unexpected death of someone close to my family. A sudden invasion of the larger world forces a recalculation. Priorities are changed and while the forces that once exercised all-encompassing pressure do not alter, they no longer feel so powerful. Life’s realities drag us from ourselves. They remind us that even though it does not seem like it, there is indeed time for fun. In fact, the message seems to be that the largest of goals –the one that collects all of those smaller and larger routines- is to be happy.
It is a new school year in my world and students have received syllabi. With cringed faces and contracting bodies, they react to the lists of requirements and assignments that will govern their lives in the coming months. It is almost as if the pressure physically squeezes, forcing people to look down and inward. Suddenly day-to-day life becomes the routine of a series of small chores and activities that, when taken together over several months, collectively fulfill the long-term goal of passing academic courses. Being a professor, sometimes I tell my students that I am that evil presence sitting on their shoulders when they are having a moment of fun with family or friends. My voice whispers in their ear that they should be studying. There is no time for fun.
One remarkable consequence of this panorama is that people become more selfish. Only having time to think about one’s own obligations forces us inward; almost as if the pressure pushes our eyes to the belly. This contraction potentially lasts for long periods and often it takes something external to break the cocoon. This recently happened to me when a car accident in another country resulted in the unexpected death of someone close to my family. A sudden invasion of the larger world forces a recalculation. Priorities are changed and while the forces that once exercised all-encompassing pressure do not alter, they no longer feel so powerful. Life’s realities drag us from ourselves. They remind us that even though it does not seem like it, there is indeed time for fun. In fact, the message seems to be that the largest of goals –the one that collects all of those smaller and larger routines- is to be happy.
