I've been blessed with some pretty great companions. My first transfer in the field was a little rough, but I definitely learned some important life lessons with those two comanions. My 2nd and 3rd transfer were comletley different from my first. I only had one companion ( with the exception of the emergency transfer, when we were a drit for the last 10 days of my 2nd transfer), and things in the area were much more relaxed. I clicked immediately with my companion and struggled a little bit when she was transferred out of the area. I entered my 4th transfer with 4 companions under my belt, and ready to receive my 5th. Sister Fenton i sgreat. I won't lie in saying that I was a little intimidated by her at first. She's a lot girlier than I am, and I had a little hit in my self-esteem for the first week or so. Thankfully, we've managed to grow pretty close to each other (I hear that happens when you live with someone 24/7 for several weeks on end. Either that or you get at each others throats...but that's not he case!) and we had a bit of a realization last night. Our companionship works very similarly to the partnership between Chris and Ben on Parks and Recreation.
Let me explain: Sister Fenton is the most bubbly, upbeat, smiley person I've ever met. She always finds the best in people and builds them up. I'm the bluntly honest, to-the-point - bringer-of-the-honest-news. It's pretty hilarious.
But anyway, that's not actuallywhat I wanted to talk about today. Today I want to talk about pressure.
This week, we had an exchange with the sisters in Freiburg. Sister Fenton went to Freiburg swith Sister Mehr, and I got to work with Sister Fast for a day. Sister Fast is brand new to the mission. She's only been out of the MTC for a few weeks. She's a fabulous missionary already, and she has so much potnential. I can't wait to swee where she goes. During our time together, I took her to the main area of the town to do some street contacting. She explained that she hadn't really had any experience talking to people on the street, so I figured that'd be something I could work with her on. For that one hour, I dealt with some of the meanest people I have ever dealt with on my mission! Since I was working with a brand new missionary, I was the one responsible or handling the people who were spurting thoughtless words of hate towards the two of us - and I'm only six months out. My German is pretty good, good enough to explain that I don't want to argue and that I wish them a good day, but I'm definitely not fluent. I was most definitely under pressure.
Pressure is not always a bad thing. There is a level of pressure that we often need to be under in order to improve. Let me give an example:
I'm a violist. I've been playing viola since I was 9 or so years old. I joined a youth symphony when I was 13 and I've been playing in youth or college symphonies ever since. A viola is slightly bigger than a violin. It has different strings, and therefore, a lower range than a violin. The body of a viola is significantly deeper than that of a violin. This depth allows one to play on the lowest string with clarity and beauty. However, depth is not the only factor. In order to play a note on the lowest string with good tone and vibranc, one must put the correct amount of pressure on the bow. Not enough pressure gives it an airy, gutless souond, while too much pressure causes a horrendous crunching In both cases, It is difficult to keep the bow in a smooth, consistent stroke across the string. With the correct amount of pressure, a musician can create a wonderful tone with great vibrance, even on the most difficult string.
Just like needing pressure to produce a good sound, we need a bit of pressur ein our lives in order to perform at our best.
Some of my best moments have happened when I was under just the right amount of pressure. The best swimming race of my life happened when my coach used a tactic that made me raise my own bar of expectations to the right level. It was my sophomore year of high school at the city championship meet. I was swimming one of the first events and I had two main competitors. One had beated me by a frustrating .02 seconds in our last meet. The other was about 3 seconds faster than me. My coach pulled me aside before the race and told me he expected me to beat both of them. In my mind, I knew I could beat the one who had barely out-touched me, but I wasn't so sure about the girl who was 3 seconds faster. Long story short: I had a moment of pure motivation as I looked at both of my competitiors and stepped up on the block I dove into the water with the thought "this race is MINE" going through my head. I gave my all in that race. WHen I touched the wall at the end of the last lap, I looked up at the board, saw the lit up "1" by my name, put both my hands in the air, gave a shout of victory, and went back under water. I came up to see my coach screaming his head off and jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic. I had dropped FOUR seconds off my time, and I got the ball of motivation rolling for the rest of the team. My team won the city championship for the first time in a couple decades.
What I didn't know, was that my coach didn't really think I'be be able to win it. He had expected me to get second place. He had taken a slight risk in telling me otherwise, and boy, did it work! He had managed to find just the right amount of pressure I needed to be under in order to succeed. His coaching towards me for the rest of my time on that team was, from that point on, a mix of tricking me into thinking I needed to prove him wrong during meets in order to drop time, and making me his personal punching bag during practice in order to gain endurance. I had some of my most frustrating swimming experiences under his coaching, but I also had most of my best races.
Pressure is a necessary part of life. How else would be motivated to pass tests, progress in our careers, or succeed in our personal goals? Do not be afraid of pressure. Being afraid of pressure will only cause you to not have enough pressure, which will slow you down in a race or give you an airy, gutless tone. Then , when you are under more pressure that is out of your control, you will not have the endurance it takes to survive it.
This has a flip side though. Do not put yourself under too much pressure You are hearing this from someone who beats herself up way too much. It's something I've been hearing ever since the MTC (and probably a bit before that, too), and after 6 months, I'm finally realizing how much stress and anxiety I could have saved myself if I had just given myself credit for the good things I was doing instead of constantly focusing on the areas I need to improve in.
Finding your correct amount of pressure takes some practice. I've been blessed with experiences and people that have helped me find my correct amount at the young age of 20, but I still have moments on an almost daily basis where I have to stop, evaluate myself, take a breath, and let go of the the things that are pushing me down. It will probably be a life-long process, but that's part of why I'm talking about it now. The sooner we can realize what sort of pressure we're under and adjust it to the pressure we need, the more we will see ourselves grow.
As an afterthought, I want you all to know that it is definitely okay to have times when you're not under any pressure at all. We all have these great moments of success where the pressure falls off our shoulders and we seem to fly for a bit. It's also okay to give yourself a break. While pressure is necessary, it's also necessary to remember that we are all human, and we all need a break every now and then.
To end on a fun note (not to undermine my pressure lecture), here are some photos from last Monday. We climbed Hohtentwiel again, but this time, I brought the light sabers I found in my apartments cleaning closet...
My companion and Zone Leaders did some turret climbing and yoga while I stood back and played photographer.
And then I had some fun with macro once more. :)
I hope you all are having a great summer. :) I wish you all a great week. Feel free to send me your responses! I'm getting better at managing my limited internet time, and will probably be a lost better at responding on individual levels.
Until next week!
SIster Sally Priest
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