Pressure Is A Privilege

A recent Facebook post went viral, touching the hearts and minds of many competing cowgirls. Lindsey Pulsipher, a former college rodeo athlete, wrote the touching piece, stating "Pressure is a privilege."

"Pressure is a privilege

When I was college rodeoing, I remember LOVING being there but also sometimes resentful of the pressure that came with the lifestyle.

I’m one that THRIVES under pressure and will create chaos of my own so I end up in an environment where pressure is the main ingredient.

But I always felt like I had to be 'on'… because I did.

My scholarship, my career and my lifelong goal depended on how 'on' I was.

Oh and did I mention my entire worth as a human being relied on the time that showed up on the Jumbotron?

Yeah.

No pressure.

My relationship with pressure was bittersweet to say the least. I loved it and hated it all at the same time.

Maybe you feel the same way.

Maybe you wish you could just be 'laid back' or 'go with the flow'.

Maybe you wish you could just be satisfied with a day job and be okay with not building a business too.

Maybe you wish you didn’t have to feel all of this pressure.

Maybe you wish Rihanna could’ve written a song about literally anything else other than diamonds forming from ungodly amounts of pressure.

It sure doesn’t feel like a melody when you keep showing up and things keep not working out.

But that pressure, that pressure that forms diamonds, that pressure is privilege.

And no, it doesn’t feel like it.

Early mornings, late nights, no sleep, no money, everyone thinks you’re nuts, your mom keeps calling you all worried and that’s just a piece of it.

The pressure of “having” to do something in order to keep being able to do that thing doesn’t feel like a privilege.

Needing to clock a certain time, make x amount of points, hit a certain sales goal isn’t the kind of pressure that’s easy.

But boy oh boy it’s a privilege.

It’s a privilege to love something so much that you go to sleep and wake up thinking about it.

It’s a privilege to have HUGE goals that are so specific because your dream is too big to not.

It’s a privilege to quite literally shake in your boots every time you go into the arena because that sport means so much to you.

Pressure is a privilege.

It’s means you have something to live for. Something to perform for.

Something to learn how to thrive under pressure for.

That pressure you feel means that you are creating a life on purpose. A life full of high highs and extremely low lows.

A life of crazy looks, stares and some trash talk behind your back.

A life full of deadlines, qualifier cutoffs, time limits, income goals and so much more.

I can promise you that if you lived a life without pressure, you would be BEGGING for it.

That pressure is a privilege. The second you start remembering that it is, everything will change.

You get to feel that pressure.

You get this privilege that not everyone has the opportunity to feel.

Feel it all.

You’ve got this.

Diamonds are expensive for a reason."