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Sources Of Stress: Outer Pressure & Inner Pressure

In order for our mind and bodies to function efficiently, our nervous system requires a constant flow of stimulation coming in from the environment around us. For example, when people are put in total darkness where they cannot see, hear, or talk to anyone else, they soon develop pathological symptoms. Eventually their minds will be begin to crack due to the insane monotony of the darkness and the silence.

Luckily this is not a problem for most of us living today. Our current world is one of fast-paced experiences and we have somehow developed the idea that we ought to be going full speed, all of the time. And as a result of this way of living, we dash from one project to another, from meeting to meeting, and as we face the clock at the end of the day and look around, we realize that we did not get much done at all.

Several years ago, Sebastian de Grazia suggested that “perhaps you can judge the inner health of a land by the capacity of its people to do nothing: to lie around, to amble aimlessly, to sit having coffee, because whoever can do nothing, letting his thoughts go where they may, must be at peace with himself.” If there is any truth to this notion at all, then most people around us are not in a very good state of inner health. And this is due to pressure and stress that stems from two sources; outer pressures and inner pressures.

Outer Pressure

Outer pressure is stress that comes from the world around us. The demands of children, our bosses, salesmen, neighbors, or teachers can all be stressful. This kind of pressure starts early life. Remember the pressures of little league, or school grades, or from our parents? Even as children the pressures can be tremendous and students just can't cope. In fact, North America's leading cause of death among college students is suicide.

Inner Pressure

Just as demanding and stressful as outer pressure are inner pressures. These are the ingrained beliefs that we have of ourselves that tell us how well to perform, meet other people's expectations, accomplish some great lofty goals in life that we believe is the right way to be happy, raise model children, keep our house clean, finish all books that we start, etc. This list could go on forever. From our parents, our teachers, our religion leaders, and our own deliberations we have set up an array of demands which we put on ourselves, and then we spend the rest of our lives under constant pressure of trying to meet our own expectations.