Jimmy's Pressure Release theory

Guess too much ice cream isn't that good...

I'm sure many of you have gone through this before: You put in everything you have into a major test, a hurdle or obstacle in your life. Your whole life revolves around that single goal/objective. You give your best fight, and the objective is conquered. You feel elation, euphoria, the deep sense of accomplishment. You give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, then you turn to face the future. But what exactly does the future hold? You've been spending so much time focusing on this particular hurdle that you haven't considered what comes after that. You have become blind to everything that is not related to your goal. You feel lost, wandering around without cause.

I wanted to play computer games all day after my exams. Since I had put off serious sessions while doing my studying, it only seemed fair that I should treat myself to some major recreation after the exams. (I did not abstain totally during the study week... just a short game once every two days when the books overwhelmed me.) But somehow, after the dust settled, while I stared at the computer, wanting to treat myself to a great marathon session, a little bit of me still wanted to pick up a textbook to do some reading. It just seemed strange to abandon the books just like that.

I eventually did play a bit on the computer, but it seemed like a waste of time. I did not derive as much pleasure from playing as I had expected. In fact, I felt that studying was more fulfilling. It irks me everytime that happens after an exam. Why? Why did I put this enjoyment off for so long, hoping that it'll taste even sweeter, only to find out that it has instead turned flat? (Thank goodness it hasn't turned sour. It just tastes flat.)

My theory for this sensation is "pressure release". Imagine a rock that was placed under a great amount of pressure from soil which sits on top of it. When the soil is eroded away, the rock no longer has this tremendous pressure and thus expands... However, this rapid expansion is too much for the rock and ultimately weakens it from the inside. The outer layers of the rock flake off due to these weaknesses.

After feeling this "flaking" feeling for a week, I did a mangrove swamp clean-up. (Don't ask me why I cleaned up a mangrove. It just adds length to the story.) Slopping through the mud, walking through spider webs, sweating it out in the humid conditions to pick up rubbish probably wouldn't be one of the things any person would want to do after just completing his exams. However, the whole experience still left me feeling extremely refreshed. Whether it was the closeness to nature, or the fact that my little act *might* make the world a better place, or the sense of accomplishment I derived from the physical exertion, I felt that the clean-up was just what I needed.

You'd think that eating ice-cream would leave you feeling better. So you eat some, and you still don't feel good. So you keep eating and eating, until you've practically finished the tub. And then you realise that instead of feeling better, you feel sick. And yet there are some things that you'd never think will make you feel better that actually does the job pretty well. I'd just like to end off by saying that I hope people will take a break from eating ice-cream some time and appreciate it when something else leaves them feeling good. -Jimmy