Ideas, Alan Clifford

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The Pressure Cooker

Years ago I had a pressure cooker. It was a big, heavy pot with a big, heavy lid that clamped on the top. When I put it on the burner, the pressure built up, the temperature rose and food cooked in half the time. There was a little vent on the top. A heavy weight sat on top of the vent to ensure the pressure would build up. If I tilted the weight a bit, steam escaped with a loud hiss.

For most of my life, I was like that pressure cooker. I had years of "stuff" I hadn't dealt with built up inside me. I knew I had "stuff" bottled up and lived in quiet terror that I would reach my limit one day and explode. Eventually, I learned to "tilt my weight" and let a bit of pressure escape. After many noisy but harmless tilts, my pressure was back to normal and I could take the lid off and see what I had been cooking inside me all those years.

When you have years of "stuff" bottled up (most of us do) and think you'll explode if you ever let any of it out, think of my pressure cooker. You can learn to "tilt your weight" to let it out a bit at a time. It's noisy in the beginning but it gets better. Getting moderate daily exercise (yoga is a good choice), doing daily relaxation (savasana is a good choice) and writing about your thoughts and feelings in a private journal are excellent ways to "tilt your weight". Eventually you too will be able to take your lid off and see what's been cooking inside.

Trust me, you'll be a lot happier with your lid off.