余婧姗 湖北师范学院

                Pressure vs. Passion: To Strive, or to Dream

To be or not to be is always a question.

When the competition in the modern society is getting fiercer and fiercer, pressure follows, and it’s riding on everyone, especially the youngsters’ shoulders. Now, to strive or to dream is a big issue.

With pressure hanging over our heads, lots of the 80s who were born in the 1980s wracked their mind and tried their utmost to fight against a variety of tasks. Their choices were to be civil servants. I’ve lost count of the number of news which constantly reported that more and more young people strived to pass the civil service exams, but usually the government only offered a handful of jobs. Ironically, pressure on them was even heavier than before. The reason why they acted like a swarm of bees dashing to the same positions is probably that being a civil servant means high salary and complete welfare systems. Most importantly, they can lead a stress-free life since then. As the 90s, we’ve been sent to many organizations to learn more skills whether we liked it or not. It’s believed that you can take a short cut to success by doing so. And since the boy called Lang-lang came to the audience’s view, parents immediately found new lands. Thus children were compelled to learn to play the piano or other instruments. Parents hoped that one day their kids could achieve the same accomplishment as he did.

However, if you just do what others tell you to do or copy other people’s way of life, can that guarantee success for you?

Just take a look at what J.K.Rowling has been through. Nowadays everyone knows who she is; the majority of us have read the books Harry Potter. The very point is she’s prominent and pretty wealthy now. It appears she has got everything people are desperate for. But there was a time which she called it “the dark one” that she was on the brink of being bankrupt. It seemed that all the pressure, all the unpredictable obstacles have been thrown on her. But did she give up in front of so many difficulties? Did she choose to live an easier life to be a lawyer or a doctor while everyone advised her to do so? No. She stood firmly on the ground with her pens in her hand as if she was holding powerful weapons to wipe away all the enemies on her path. The desire for better life, more importantly, the desire for writing made her take no for an answer and set her free from heavy burdens. Writing was the only thing that she has been passionate about in this big bad world. It was the passion that guided her through darkest times. Imagine what if she discarded her dreams when confronted with failure and pressure? What if she compromised when she hit the rock bottom? Then we would lack a wonderful book series to accompany us through our childhood. There would be a permanent vacancy on the bookcase.

When pressure knocks at your front door, invite it in. When pressure shows up, greet it with smile. Even if you try to avoid it, sooner or later it’ll come up to you. Pressure is by no means a coffin to bury your dreams. Pressure is by no means a thorn to encircle your passion. It’s an active volcano with your passion, goals and ideals inside waiting to be awakened. So don’t be discouraged by that, listen to your heart instead, and follow the whisper to strike out, to establish your own career.

As an old saying goes, no pain no gain. Or we may call it, no pressure no passion today.