According to some Asian cultures, the anxiety to get something, pressure, ends up pushing it away; thus, it’s detrimental. Indeed, pressure is an enemy. This is because it ultimately blocks you instead of encouraging action. It actually makes a lot of sense. In fact, you may have experienced it at some point.

For example, think of the restlessness that comes from intensely waiting for something to happen. Hoping for the date of a given event to arrive, for someone with whom to partner and build a family to come along, or for luck to strike. Yes, you can try to force your circumstances but things will still come on their own time. Thus, applying pressure isn’t only detrimental but it won’t make things move faster.

What does happen is your anxiety levels increase substantially. A minute becomes an hour and a day becomes a week. That’s the feeling you get, at least. A state of so much emotional charge that instead of bringing you closer to what you desire ends up creating the conditions for it to move away.

“Sometimes a people lose their right to remain silent when pressured to remain silent.”

-Criss Jami-

Pressure is detrimental, so don’t force things

Exerting pressure and trying to force circumstances actually creates the opposite effect. It’s like going sailing and trying to force the sea to produce big waves to take you faster to your destination.

What happens in these cases is that you visualize the ideal situation and attempt to force reality to get it to conform to that ideal image. It takes precedence over facts. So strong is this difficulty to see things as they are, and not as you want them to be, that you apply pressure in order to change them.

Life becomes much simpler and enriching when you just move with it. One of the great secrets of happiness lies in accepting reality as it is and adapting to it. It has nothing to do with conformism, it’s more about humility. It’s about enouncing to the kind of egocentrism that makes you want to impose yourself on reality.

Practicing detachment

One of the ways to learn to avoid pressure and just flow with life flow is to practice detachment. This doesn’t mean you should become disinterested or apathetic. It’s quite the contrary, in fact. It’s an attitude that invites you to deeply enjoy what you have and what you do, not only that which you wish it to be.

Getting a partner, a better job, or more money doesn’t really make people happier. Thus, what leads to inner peace is a sense of happiness, being able to enjoy life itself. This is precisely the kind of attitude that promotes advancement. This is because you’re more capable of loving, performing better, and, therefore, of unleashing a chain of positive events.

Now you know why some Asian cultures consider pressure to be detrimental. The practice of detachment helps eliminate this desire to force things. It helps allow processes to unfold naturally and find their way to you.

Cultivate your inner world

You must cultivate your inner world in order to learn to let go of pressure and practice detachment. It’s important to let go of the obsession with success. This only leads to anxiety and frustration most of the time. You must eliminate those ideas that lead you to believe that you can be on good terms with yourself if you achieve certain external goals.

You can’t achieve true wealth and balance through something external. It’s you who shapes the way you feel and perceive life. Thus, no person, no object, will give it to you if you’re incapable of appreciating your own existence in order to feel happy.

Finally, pressure is detrimental, and trying to force circumstances isn’t a viable option. As some of the Asian cultures state, it often only produces the opposite effect, frustration, because reality doesn’t bend to your desires. As you can see, it’s you who must accept and follow its logic in order to achieve what you want.

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