An interesting topic and stuff for thought for me is how different people react to stress and pressure in different ways. Some break down, others outperform themselves again others freeze or just wait for things to pass.

There are different ways on how we approach stressful situations and deadline pressure. I am still unable to reach a conclusion on my side, is it based on life-time experience or just how we tick inside our heads with personality traits taking the lead. Often, I am amazed by older people, who are much calmer and usually say “it will pass” shrugging all the drama of a pressing deadline or a mistake that was made. Noticing that age and experience change the way how I perceive and handle some situations I am positive that it has an impact, but can you really handle all situations differently? I remember the hype and drama when we were graduating from gymnasium, it was all about scores, how you will perform meant which faculty you could apply (and get in) to, etc. In the end… it was not a make it or break it life event for most. Nowadays when I see people dramatizing over unimportant or life-threatening events, I remember how small my world used to be when I was younger, and I struggle to understand how these people must feel that everything is falling apart. But that gets me wondering – how do people who struggle through life feel? Not people who are mortally ill – even though the end game for all of us is passing away no matter what we do, and it looms over us at any point in our lives. But when you get to meet people who were terminally ill but somehow, they managed to survive against all odds, or having survived two pretty spectacular car crashes, you think to yourself – does a mistake at work or a failed relationship really mean I will not be able to live my life as comfortably or peacefully as I would expect? Most probably not, it is another experience that broadens our horizons, takes time to digest, survive, start breathing again, but you move on eventually. Or not, I sometimes meet people who are just stuck in a tiny little circle of events doing the same mistake all over again. Someone once said – being stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.  A thought I agree with completely, with my heart and soul.

But sometimes people just feel stuck, stuck in the life that leads to nothing important. But what really is important? All that hype about being unique, important, born to change the world. Sorry guys, that´s bullshit. If all of us were unique, one of a kind and that special… then mediocrity would not exist and … again we would all be similar, everyone special in his or her own way. When I was younger my drive was for money, since that was the only way I could really value myself with a number, that meant to me how successful I was in life. Then came my 30s, and at one point it just clicked. Money means just a means of not worrying about next month’s bills and how to get food and it got me thinking – what is it all about? Family, life experiences, stories to tell, a clear answer still does not exist in my head, however, I know I want to live and experience for myself. Not for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, sit silent and enjoy moments. Wake up with a smile on my face and enjoy the sunny days, stay cosy on the rainy and cold ones. Good enough for me.

Still the pressure comes, it always comes and then I tend to push to hyper speed, sort everything out in my head and how and what I´ll do, and pressure keeps me going and reaching new goals. Not always, sometimes I fail, but I learn the lesson (or at least try to), but if I learned anything about pressure in life – most of the things will go away by themselves I you don´t push up the drama too much. Work tasks which are not crucial will fade away, the important ones will keep knocking on your door, worry not. Relationships will happen, some people will stay, some will go, these few special ones will make life glow.

I wonder however, how other people cope, I always admired the really calm ones, how they tend to handle everything with such grace and frowned upon the drama queens, but I guess we all just have our way of handling things. I am really interested in knowing how you manage? Do you feel trapped in the everyday life hoping for something more but never really trying? Or did you try and failed so many times that it just does not make sense anymore? What is keeping you from starting training, eating healthy, quitting the so much hated job, taking that trip to some remote country, packing up and saying fuck you to your partner with whom you know you don´t belong? Why is it so difficult for us to change some things even though we know we should and could do better?