Is it just me or has everyone been under an extreme amount of pressure lately?

There’s enough pressure in the air to send tea kettles wailing, water pipes bursting and geysers erupting all at the same time. The tension is evident nationally as well as locally.

The pressures on a national level are blatant. The events of Sept. 11 have completely and utterly shaken up our world.

Americans are walking on eggshells, hoping they won’t be subjected to another surprise attack.

As we begin to rebuild, after enduring the worst act of terrorism in our nation’s history, another scare has emerged in the form of a fatal, white, powdery substance: anthrax.

This disease has people across the nation afraid to embark on the seemingly trivial task of opening their mail.

President Bush is under pressure to deal with these domestic issues as well as pressures to retaliate against Afghanistan’s Taliban. Just a mere suggestion: It may not be in our country’s best interest to put more pressure on our president’s, let’s say less-than-complex, mind than necessary.

But, if Dubya can pull us out of this crisis, he’ll surely be a figure of admiration, regardless of how often he’s been the butt of Letterman’s Top Ten List.

No one is immune to the plague of pressure.

Even people here in the “corn capital of the world” are under pressure. During midterms, students were walking around with veins protruding from their foreheads like they had broccoli stalks embedded in their skulls.

Eyes were bloodshot due to endless hours of cramming. Many students were trying to comprehend eight weeks worth of information in 24 hours, minus MTV breaks.

Just thinking about all of this pressure is enough to cause a brain aneurysm.

So, what can we do about all of this pressure? We’re in the midst of a war, so taking a long vacation is not an option.

The only thing we can do is work through it. Giving up is not to be considered. Weathering through this storm will make us a much stronger nation.

We can’t allow fear to dictate our lives. Democracy is what differentiates us from 41.8 percent of the world, and I choose not to live in fear (www.fordemocracy.net).

I think our 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, put it best when he said “there’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” Living in fear is not living at all. I’ve grown accustomed to my freedom, and I’m not ready to let it go.

Why should we have to live in paranoia? Aren’t we the world power? We are the United States of freakin’ America, if anything, they should be fearing us!

I challenge everyone to open a letter today. It doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not, just tell the addressee that you are exercising your civil right not to live in fear!

If you’re feeling really daring, go jump on an airplane!

It doesn’t matter where its destination is, let’s show bin Laden and the rest of his assassins that they can’t hold us down.

If school has your hair in a bind, just let it go. Forget about that upcoming test and go to a bar and let loose! (Just kidding!)

We all need to relax.

Don’t let the pressures of the world consume you. We must show fortitude, a la Mayor Guilliani.

Triumphing through adversity is the American way.