This article will explain the cause of stress related to the pressures of life and how to eliminate the negative effects. Not only will that be explained, but you will also find how to use the pressure in a positive way.
If you push on something, it resists being pushed. This applies to any material object, even air has a degree of resistance if you can feel it. This is the pressure of one force against another.
Thought and opinions, although one could say are not a material substance, can often be thicker and more solid than a concrete wall. This is evident when two people of fixed but opposing opinions argue.
In a work situation for example, the boss puts pressure on the employees to get a job done, perhaps in a limited time frame. In school, there are deadlines to complete our projects or prepare for an exam. In running a race, or any competition, all participants put pressure on each other.
We may not like the pressures of work and school, but we voluntarily submit to competitive sports and games. The pressure is the same, but one causes stress while the other creates energy and excitement. This is the key to the elimination of stress. Acceptance or resistance of the pressure.
Life is simply what it is.
Everything causes pressure, that is the law of gravity. The deeper under water you go, the more pressure there is. Pressure is the resulting energy of one force on another. A spring board, sling shot, syringe, bellows, combustion engine, steam engine, airplane, hot air ballon, and even an insect, all function on the same principle. One object pushing on another object forces one or the other to move.
The greater the resistance, the more pressure and thus the more potential energy. In a pressure situation as such, one of two things can happen; a return energetic reaction from the receiver which overpowers the initiator, or the breaking of the receiver. That which initiates a force activates the law that for every action, an equal and opposite reaction will result. However, this is not always inevitable.
Stress and pressure are not the same thing in emotional terms. Pressure is created when an event demands something is done. Stress is created by a resistance to the pressure. We have proven this with the above example of work or games. Both create pressure but work we resist and dislike causes stress while the game creates excitement and joy. You can fight the current and try to go upstream with great effort, or you can glide downstream with the flow of the river.
Emotional stress is caused by a resistance to the situation. If your job requires you to put in extra work, or more than you want to do for any reason, you will resist it. If you get paid a big bonus, then you are happy to do it. That resistance is what causes stress. Conversely, if you responded with total acceptance to any thing that needed to be done, you would not be stressed at all. I am not saying to roll over and let everyone take advantage of you, rather, at this point in our discussion, I am merely conveying the principle for us to work with. If you resist, you will endure pain. If you go with the flow, there is no fight, and thus no pain.
As I mentioned earlier, pressure is one object against another, and stress is a resistance to that force. A space ship will encounter tremendous resistance until it breaks free of the atmosphere, after which time, there is no resistance at all. I am sure you have seen a movie in which the poor astronaut is stuck floating in space and cannot move himself towards his ship, just inches away. That is because in space, there is nothing to resist his force of movement, so he cannot move.
In a verbal or emotional conflict situation, the aggressor must have resistance in order to be an aggressor. The receiver must resist the aggressor in order to receive the pressure and feel stressed. If the receiver does not resist, then there is no pressure and thus no conflict or stress.
Up to now, we have shown that the cause of stress is resistance. Now I would like to show how we can use the very same situations as a source of power instead of stress. In my book, Taming Your Dragons, I have explained the seven kinds of stress. One of which is positive stress, and that is what we will now discuss.
Have you ever tried to swat a housefly with your hand? Do you know why fly swatters have holes in them? The resistance of the air against your solid hand creates a pressure wave of air that the fly rides to get away from you. But the fly swatter has holes so it does not create a resistance to the air and no wave for the fly to ride in its escape. Pressure is success for the fly who knows how to use pressure in a positive way to its benefit. Accepting the law and working with it without resisting is your success.
Every event causes one form of pressure or another. We have the choice to resist and stand our ground thus creating an opposing force which will result in either overcoming the source of the pressure or, snapping. The other choice, as there is always another option to every situation, is to accept the event and ride the wave it created.
This is the power that Gandhi used to conquer the British, peaceful resistance. He never fought back.
The unique fact about energetic waves of this nature is that not only can we choose to flow with it instead of resist, thus eliminating all stress and possibly having a lot of fun instead, but that this knowledge when applied correctly can actually direct the wave to any direction we choose.
Powerful rivers can be redirected, then can be harnessed with a dam, and the pressure against the dam created by the accumulated water can be consciously released through turbines to generate electricity. All forces of power can be used this way if you know how, and are skilled enough to do this. However, if you just dam up the river and never let any water pass, disaster is guaranteed.
And now, I will explain the method of self preparation to get this skill.
Emotionally, we resist something that goes against our desires or opinions. Naturally, people are very attached to their opinions, and this is where we create stress. If you could let go of your fixed opinions, there would be nothing there to resist any event. You would become like the turbine which turns as the water flows through it and instead of being strained, it spins freely and creates tremendous power. If the bearings lock up and the turbine does not spin, it will break. When that happens, the whole city suffers a power failure.
We can be the turbine and the controller who directs the power. All you have to do is accept the reality of life that things are always happening and they often do not go according to your desires and opinions. Let go of your fixed opinions and open your mind and heart to the moment.
Resistance is futile. Acceptance with wisdom is the key to infinite power.
This is the trait of the balanced and peaceful person, the monk and the successful businessman. Take what comes and work with it. Resist what comes and wear yourself out to the point of self-destruction.
Necessity is the mother of all invention.
An opinion is a belief in something. That is simple enough to understand and I think cannot be disputed. You cannot have an opinion about something you do not know exists. If you are faced with a need or a situation, and you have the attitude that you do not know everything there is to know, your mind will be open and you will not react with a fixed opinion, thus, you have eliminated or at least significantly reduced your resistance.
When there is no resistance, that implies the door to your mind is open. Creativity does not knock on closed doors.
If you are certain that I am wrong, that is your opinion and you will never be able to learn something new. If you do not know if I am right or wrong, and you give this a chance, applying the few things I have said to test if they are true or not, you may find that your testing, with an open mind alone, brings a valuable result.
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