Of Not-So-Stressful Life and Constant Pressure

As our first examination is drawing near, naturally, the stress level increases. Let's not talk about my miserable study progress here as it is not the main point I would like to highlight. Upon witnessing the breakdown of one of my friends, I begin to ponder some serious issue in my mind. Of course, the critical issue here is whether we should actively instill a constant stress level in our mind (by actively reminding ourselves every single second that we are here with a mission and we MUST ensure that the mission will be accomplished by hook or by crook) or should take a more relaxed approach in completing the mission (by progressing with the right pace and keeping ourselves on track with the syllabus from time to time). Personally, I feel that I'm more of the latter (despite not being exactly the same - but then again, let's not dig into that matter deeply). It is undeniable that constant pressure will serve as motivation to push us further, that is, IF the optimum amount of pressure is applied. Naturally, this will lead to another doubt - what exactly is the right amount off pressure to be considered? To be honest, such a subjective and debatable question might garner different responses from different individuals. Rather than spending time just to find a solution for a ridiculous chicken-and-egg question, I feel that it is better to take a more relaxed approach in handling the issue (maybe a little too relaxed in my case). With too much constant pressure, we might end up feeling helpless. We might reach a point where we feel so useless that we will never ever be able to solve the problem. 

Meanwhile, for the rest of us who prefer a more relaxed approach, we need to know what we should achieve at the end of the day. However, there is no need to constantly apply the unnecessary amount of pressure. It is best not to think about the irrelevant bunch of "what ifs" (e.g "What if I'm unable to solve the problem?", "What if things doesn't achieve the result that I wish for?" and yaddah 3x). In the first place, who are we to predict the outcome of things that have not happened yet. We are just an ordinary human being living in this extraordinary universe. One thing for sure, given the right resources/environment and with sufficient amount of effort invested, we will be able to maximise our chances of achieving things that we have been keeping our fingers crossed for since what it seems like forever. As for the rest of the things, let's just say that we will see what fate has stored for us.

Hence, to everyone who is sitting for any kind of examination, all the best and may we succeed in whatever we hope to achieve.