Pressure surrounds us all the time. Don't you wish you could just tell it how you feel about what it does to you? Well, I am.

Dear Pressure,

What are you? Where are you? More importantly, why are you here? I mean you're literally everywhere. You and your best friend stress seem to be attached at the hip. You rarely see one without the other. You sit on my shoulder when I'm studying for a test. You're always whispering in my ear during practice and games. You play with my emotions when picking out what to wear that day. You're staring me down as I am writing this article right now. Tagging along for the ride throughout my daily activities, never missing an opportunity to let me know that you're there.

I can only bare so much of you and yet you are continuously growing and multiplying. Often, you and your little friend are what breaks me at the end of a long day. So overwhelmed by the power of this "dynamic duo" of sorts that I don't know what to do with myself. Slowly but surely chipping away at parts of me until you get down to the nitty-gritty.

Quite honestly there were times in my life where I hated you. I didn't understand why you did the things you did. Why you made me feel the way you did and act how I acted. Even to this day, sometimes I sit there and think about the reaction that I had to your presence that day. It really never does make sense, does it? Why we do the things that we do when you and your bestie are around. Or why you two just seem to be so obsessed with us. Really think about it. You two just always want to haunt us or be in our business. Especially when it comes to school and sports.

Because of the two of you myself, and thousands of other people have developed anxiety and depression, all because you think its funny to sit on our shoulders and try to see if you can bring us down. Consistently coming and going throughout our daily lives, forcing us to make hard decisions and telling us to get things done. You're not the best but you're not all that bad either. There are times in my life where I need you to kick me in the butt to wake me and make sure I get my work done. Whether it's on the field or in the classroom.

Because of you, I see things in a new way. You've taught me lessons that no professor or coach ever could. I've learned things about myself and the game that I would have never known if you didn't decide to stick your nose in things. I've grown into this strong and independent person partially because of you. You showed me how to deal with chaos and remain calm. You pushed me to do better than my best and step up when the time came. You showed me the strength and abilities that I never knew I had.

Some of my greatest triumphs came from you pushing me farther than I thought I could go. I can't believe I'm saying this but I thank you for being a part of my life. For giving me the opportunities to live my life, prove myself, and step up. You've helped me to learn more about me and who I truly am. I've grown to become such a stronger woman and leader because you showed me my capabilities. It was never easy. A lot of the times I didn't want to deal with it or hear what you had to say. I would ignore you and ignore you until you built up to be this huge all-consuming being.

But I beat you. I proved you wrong. I showed you what it's like to be in charge. I know that you will never truly go away and you will continue to try and get under my skin but I know now exactly how to handle you, so I suggest you watch your back.