What is it? It may give you relief. Read through to the end to find out.
Last year, I built a shed.
By that, I don’t mean assembled a kit. I’m too cheap for that.
I drew up plans, made a materials list, got plans approved by the HOA, and got to work.
About halfway through framing the first wall, my nail gun started getting wimpy. Nails were only going in part way. Then the trigger wouldn’t reset. Air leaked through the gun. A seal had blown.
That gun needs pressure to operate. Sometimes I do too.
I’ve been trying to post a blog once a week. I wrote one earlier in the week. I even got photos ready to go with it.
I didn’t like it. Maybe I’ll rework it and use it later. But now, I’m under pressure to get this written.
Then my daughter Felicia mentioned that she works well under pressure. That got me thinking.
My nail gun needs air pressure to work.
A balloon needs pressure to float.
My truck needs air pressure in the tires, oil and coolant pressure in the engine, and that ever important refrigerant pressure in the air conditioning.
The atmosphere needs pressure for us to breathe!
But add too much pressure and the balloon pops and the car boils over.
Is there pressure in your life?
That’s good.
Is there too much pressure?
That’s bad.
My air compressor has a switch that regulates the pressure. The pressure gets too low, it adds more. The pressure gets to where it is supposed to be, it stops adding.
How do you regulate the pressure in your life?
That’s an honest question. I struggle with that. Some days work is so busy it feels out of control. Sometimes my calendar gets so full that I forget things.
I do have my ways of relieving pressure. The work phone gets set aside when I get home. I try to keep my calendar under control. If I’m exhausted, I’m not afraid to put off non-essential tasks to have a time of relaxing.
If the pressure in my air compressor went out of control, there’s a little brass valve that will pop open. If that wasn’t there, it could explode, destroying the compressor and damaging everything around it.
What’s your safety valve? Do you have someone who will help you deal with life when things get out of control?
My wife, my family, and a few close friends provide that emergency relief for me.
It’s important for us to have pressure in our lives. It’s also important to keep that pressure under control. Take some time today to do some pressure control. Add a goal if you need more pressure. Get some relief if you need to reduce pressure. Get support if you need to safely blow off out of control pressure.
As for my picture of relief – yep, it’s the blow off valve on my air compressor.
Solano Writing 