Maybe you are overplaying your hand.
Pressure is a good thing; it creates diamonds, but putting unnecessary pressure on yourself is pointless.
I put unnecessary pressure on myself by living, in my mind, in the past or the future.
When I return to the present moment, everything is fine—not necessarily good, but okay.
Two ways help me recenter.
The first is the so-called Jesus Prayer, which goes like this: ” My Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
It is a short, powerful, and effective prayer that I use whenever I feel negative thoughts entering and occupying my mind.
Orthodox monks have used this short and beautiful prayer for centuries; trust me, it works wonders.
The second way I recenter is by facing all my demons. Facing and accepting all my fears and all of my doubts.
This second exercise will give you so much power you won’t believe it.
All our fears, doubts, shame, or insecurity come from past events that we can’t change or future ones that have yet to happen.
What happened happened. You can’t change that. But if you dare to face it and let your stupid and weak ego take a blow or two, all that happened will dissolve. You’ll realize that you are a beautiful human who made mistakes—like the rest of us. Face it, own it, and move on.
Fearing the future is unreasonable because everything in this universe is dynamic. Nothing stays the same, including you.
The person that went to sleep last night is not the same person that woke up today.
You are at least 8 hours older.
The philosopher Heraclitus stated that the only constant in life is change.
You’ve made mistakes, and you’ll make mistakes again because it is part of life.
So what?
Face everything, pray, recenter, and live.
Play the hand you are dealt now, in the present moment, and don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself.
With love, yours truly, Cristian.