Pressure's On

I don't work well under certain types of pressure. 

If it's something like not feeling prepared for a test then I try to hide it and come off cool as a cucumber so I don't add the pressure for other people.  

Pressures from people that expect things from you annoy me because with school, family, job and personal life, there's too much pressure for one 17-year-old girl to undertake. 

 

Thought I'd chuck this is for fun
Image from http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-be-cool-as-a-cucumber/

Word of Advice: There are times where one just shut off physically and mentally in order to fully regain consciousness of their surroundings.

If it's public speaking or doing something in front of people, then my body goes into this mode where it shakes non-stop and I don't mean shake like what you would do in a club (#twerking). It's gotten better in the last few years because beforehand my face used to go RED - like a tomato - in addition to the shaking. It was so bad one time that I almost started crying. I've learned to calm down since, to the point where I don't go red anymore however the shakes are still there. 

So today I went to an event at another school and they had planned out a few activities to break the ice as there were many schools present.  

This first was SIGNS, a game foreign to me and most people in the room, but the host school taught us how to play. 

Essentially, we got broken into two groups, which was around 25 to 30 people each group. Each person in the group had a sign or a hand gesture or action that was unique to the rest of us. Mine, naturally, was the District 12 sign from The Hunger Games (three fingers in the air). Once we went around the group showing our gestures the game started. There's a person in the middle who has to cover their eyes at first. Another person in the circle had to do their own sign and then somebody else's sign to 'pass the ball'. The aim of the game was to keep the person in the middle there for as long as possible. The only way the person in the middle (who didn't have their eyes closed anymore) can 'get out' was to catch people in the middle of doing the signs by asking "Is it you?"

It makes sense if you actually play it.

Let me tell you, I do not do well in this type of pressure. The 'ball' got passed to me quite a number of times (probably because of my very cool sign) but a couple of times I cracked and my hands started to spasm and I started to shake. However I did really well in the middle of the circle, catching the people who had the 'ball' quickly.

Since the moment the 'ball' got passed to me, I could not stop shaking and I tried playing it off but inside I was petrified I'll have an anxiety attack. It's been a while since my last one but I never know when it's gonna surprise me.

Other than that, it was fine! We had a great time and I hope there will be another one soon.

So that's story time for today. Hope you had a good read.

Take care and be safe.

♥