Pressure

Our goal this past week was to purchase a car for me.  Karl has his truck, which we stored here when we were on island, and while we are happy to ‘share and share alike’ with our lives, there are some limits within even a good marriage, and sharing a car, for us, is one of those.   So we embarked upon one of my most unliked endeavors – car shopping.  Need I state it? The week was stressful. I’m not convinced that anyone needs as many choices as presented themselves in this crusade.

Now that our campaign is complete and a pretty red, used Nissan Rogue (with a sunroof!) is sitting outside, my blood pressure has returned to normal and my stomach has quit hurting.  Task completed, I have the luxury of consideration, and I’ve been thinking about the pressures we’ve withstood this week.  Some pressure came from inside us: not to overspend, to be wise, and to choose something reliable. Much of the pressure, though, came from outside.  Car salesmen can be evil.  We walked in with a set idea of what we were willing to pay and what we wanted.  Then the contest began: offer us something just above that with one more cool feature to entice us.  The pressure to score “an awesome deal” was real and hard to ignore. 

Our week finished well.  We didn’t overspend our budget, we stayed true to our original goals. Part of our success, I’m sure, came from our individual experiences and wisdom along with the strength of our partnership in keeping us focused.  

Today’s young people have so many choices to make these days – choices I never had. Sure, drinking alcohol and sexual activity were choices I was faced with as a teen, but most of society and the people who were raising me gave me clear and definite guidelines to use in making my choices. My friends and I didn’t necessarily comply with those guidelines, but we knew what they were.  I didn’t have to ‘choose’ my orientation, or my gender as I was growing up. Shooting people and suicide weren’t options available.  There are so many choices now, lines are murky, pressure is unbelievable.  The world’s ‘salesmen’ are adept at what they do.  

Young people I love are in the crosshairs of prevailing pressure, and while I know hugs and prayer are powerful, they just don’t always feel like enough. That doesn’t mean I’m going to quit either activity, but I’m thinking I’m going to explore other actions I can take to advocate and support them.