Chris L. Johnson, PsyDI coach leaders to sharpen their focus, grow their resilience & improve their energy for exemplary results | Best Selling Author | Executive Leadership Coach |Speaker|Pressure Cookers Are Full of Delights and Possibilities |
Both my grandmothers had them, and my mom too. I learned to use one by middle school, though the pressure of it scared me a little. Still does today, but now I know its value. Enter: the lowly pressure cooker. Introduced for patent back about 100 years ago, it wasn't until the 1938 World's Fair that Alfred Vischler introduced it to the public. Since then, pressure cookers have been prized for their time and energy-saving qualities thanks to the steam pressure that builds up inside.They've made a stunning comeback in recent years after a technological upgrade to the modern InstantPot. Common sense tells us that pressure's not good, especially if it's hot! With the rush of deadlines and back-to-school, the incessant drama of news cycles filled with polarizing political ads, climate catastrophes, or fear of runaway inflation – you'd not be alone in feeling the effects of pressure in our current lives — though not the good kind. I often feel like I'm inside a pressure cooker, and it can be scary. The pandemic and politics — all of it — are serving as a human pressure cooker. We're feeling the heat build-up. Whether it is your:
. . . the pressure's intense. It can build to a point where, unless you change it, something's going to give – or should I say blow up? __________________________________________________________________________ Feeling the HeatWhen things get to a point where it's too much – mounting bills, fatigue, a side comment from a colleague, or simply watching the news – you may have felt the internal pressure creep up. Perhaps, like a woman I'll call Judy. "I was always the strong friend. The one who didn't show much emotion was never affected by anything, a great shoulder to lean on. These past couple of years have been pretty hard on me mentally, and I just… can't… bear to feel it all. I can feel it all in my chest—the stress, fear, anxiety, depression, and loneliness that plague me every day. But would you know it by looking at me? No. That stoic persona I've had all my life is so fixed in place, it's not letting me release any of these emotions. I want to burst into fits of tears, curl into a ball and scream, and hyperventilate. It's all bottled up, and I can't even muster a tear. I just want some release." Sure sounds like a pressure cooker effect, yes?So, maybe like Judy you steeled yourself for a bit, you tried harder to get a grip and make the changes because you're ready to try just . . . about . . . anything to alleviate the pressure. You know what things are good for you and they drop the pressure. It works for a while. You feel less stress, drop weight, feel more connected, and generate a bit of hope. Yet when the pressure dropped, your focus dropped off too. Less than helpful habits crept back in. You've fallen off the practice wagon. You want to stay consistent, but you're human after all, so you can begin to slip on your practices when the pressure was low. Then the pressure slowly but surely ramped up again. And you find you're back to where you started. You forgot the positive possibilities of the pressure cooker. So what can be done? How can you turn down the heat, lower the flame? |