1. EXPECTATIONS, PRESSURE AND STRESS
Each and every person expects something from the other. In today’s competitive world, you
are required to fulfil those expectations and work in that direction. Failure is not an option
at all. When you fail to come up to somebody’s expectations and don’t fulfil their wishes,
they hardly give you a second chance to prove yourself again. So, all the years of hard work
and effort goes down the drain when you fail. You can lose your good reputation which you
had build up in quite some time, you lose the goodwill which you earned by your exemplary
work in the past and most of all you lose your recognition for some time. You lose your faith
in yourself. All this can cost you a lot in the present scenario.
The people who must not be disappointed include your boss, your teacher, your parents,
your colleagues, your friends – basically the whole world around you. The sad point is that
people have become very talkative nowadays and love to gossip. The news about your
failure is out to the world in seconds before you can even stop it. The good work you do –
no one cares to listen. Oh but when you don’t succeed, then that is something to talk about!
Hence, expectations must be taken care of in order to prove yourself.
We all are under pressure.
As a student you are worried about the grades in the subject, finishing homework on time
and keeping all your work up to date. Once you finish school, you have to worry about
getting into good undergraduate college. The next thing you find yourself doing is praying to
get a decent job with good money. Then you have to enhance your profile by doing post
graduation from an excellent place. Your teachers, parents and relatives just expect you to
achieve that, pressuring you each and every day, reminding you how important it is for you
to achieve that. When you are working in some company you have to worry about finishing
your target in time. If you don’t, you are fired the next moment. You are required to do
every possible thing in order to keep your job. You stay up all night, work long hours in
office glued to your chair and forget about your needs and wants. You have no time to relax
at all. You have to please so many people around you that you forget about your own
happiness. You are left with no time whatsoever to do something which pleases you. It can
be gaming, watching movies, writing, reading, sketching, painting, shopping - anything for
that matter.
You go under pressure and a lot of stress which again has only bad effects on you, your mind
and your body. People are getting heart attacks in their twenties only. The others are
suffering from hypertension, blood pressure and god knows what else. Why? Why is this
happening to young people who are supposed to handle the future of the country? Does all
this sound reasonable and healthy?
I am a student and I know I am under a lot of pressure and have so many people around me
keeping an eye on me – expecting something from me. I can’t let them down because that is

2. not an option. The only thing I can do is to find a middle way to do things which others
expect and do things which please me - at least for stress busting.
So what I am trying to say is that expectation comes with a lot of tension, stress and
pressure; but we should not succumb to it at all. We should believe in ourselves and work in
the right direction. Anyone who does that will definitely achieve something good. You will
fall and trip sometimes, but again you should have the courage and strength to pick yourself
up from the ground and start walking again. Success will definitely come to you. You will be
satisfied when you fulfil those expectations and that in turn will surely please you.