The Pressure of Perfection

“The only pressure I'm under is the pressure I've put on myself.” ~Mark Messier

Back in the day I was an emergency nurse, overweight, over worked and underpaid. You get the picture. I still reflect on the pressure I allowed myself to feel to this day. The pressure to hit the department targets, to succeed, to do my best at all times, to the point I forgot what is really important in life.

I left my job to take control of my life; yep you've heard that one before. But it’s the truth. I love my life now, married for 26 years with 3 grown up well balanced happy fulfilled children. While it would make sense to say the emergency department was hectic and this quiet piece of suburbia I live in should provide relief, peace, and relaxation, that isn't really the case. As each day there is a temptation to put pressure on myself: to follow up leads, take calls, write a chapter of my book, or clean the house, get work done in the garden, or go to the gym, or do something that I consider worthwhile.

I have discovered over the years that it really is not SITUATIONS that cause pressure and stress, but the lack of familiarity with the task required to carry out the task and the ability to be accepting of who I am and where I am. My mind can be as chaotic in suburbia as it was in the emergency department, the difference now I choose to relax into myself, my environment and the tasks I need to get done.

How is this working for you?