Overcoming Mental Stress (Part 1)

On a spiritual level, pressure can be defined as an external force acting on us divided by our ability to bear the force or resist it. Thus, force and resistance capacity are two variants in the equation of pressure. Everyone has different resistance capacities. Two people with different resistance capacities will experience different amounts of pressure when they experience the same magnitude of force. A feeling of pressure reduces our freedom and gives us an experience of being ruled by an external force.

➤There are a lot of people who hold the belief that they can experience freedom only in the absence of an external force, which is almost impossible, since there is almost some force or the other exerted on the soul by ups and downs that takes place in the role that it plays through the physical body; which includes the physical body itself; profession; family; wealth, all types of relationships, etc. Even our own personality, thoughts, feelings, emotions etc., exert pressure on us at times.

➤Apart from the resistance capacity, the other variant in the equation of pressure is not only force but our perception of what the magnitude of the force is. This depends primarily on the beliefs that we carry. Two people will perceive the same situation as forces of different magnitudes. While we hold the belief that life situations, people, and their expectations from us are the forces that are the causes of our pressure, we will be able to do little to change the habit of being pressurized. It is we who pressurize ourselves and allow the outside to pressurize us. We can either go through our life journey while experiencing feelings of being emotionally imprisoned, confused, rushed, and hurried, or we can do the same with the power of faith and determination, at the same time remaining patient and maintaining our inner emotional stability.

➤In some cases, some of us put pressure on ourselves, because we carry the belief that a bit of pressure is good in order to achieve what we want; it provides us with positive energy and motivates us. So, this is an example of perceiving forces in our life, forces that do not exist. Such pressure can deceive us and give us a feeling of being beneficial in the short term, but it can have harmful effects on us in the long term. Some others might not experience this pressure because they do not carry this belief at all and don’t invite these forces.

(Continues tomorrow...)