Peer Pressure

Ro 7:15 I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
The other day as I went to work on a rainy day, I was crossing the Cinco Bayou Bridge in the left lane on Eglin when a car came racing up behind me and then drove right on my bumper obviously wanting me to speed up or go by me.  Note that although there was some traffic I wasn't flying in formation with someone beside me and she could have easily changed lanes on the bridge and gone around me. Interestingly my first reaction was to speed up as I saw her barreling up behind me, but then I looked down and I was already doing 43mph.  So there I am speeding and this young lady wants me to go faster or get out of the way.  So, I resisted the urge to speed up or move over.  As we drove through town on the other side of the bridge, she finally moved into the center lane and blew by me.  I hate to think I might have made her late to school or a nail appointment.
This silly incident got me thinking about peer pressure and how we respond.  The only peer pressure was the closing rate of her car.  She had room to go around me, but she either lacked the skill or patience to check traffic and go around so she raced up behind me, slammed on her brakes, and rode my bumper for a half mile or so and I felt pressured to respond.  Why? 
Psychologists say we have an inner voice.  (My kids say it often comes out loud and I talk to myself as if I'm already crazy beyond my years.  They don't understand that if I don't maintain that dialogue, I'll find myself in a room and can't remember why.  But I digress...)  Why in this case is my inner voice saying I must accommodate this person?  Clearly they want to do something illegal and want me to participate.  It all happened in just a couple of short seconds, but my first reaction was to speed up and check traffic to get out of her way.  Why did it take a stream of conscious thought to rethink my action and make a conscious decision not to (increase) sin?  Clearly my nature is to sin and I had to resist that sudden urge.  Note that the other person is unknown to me, and I won't ever face any persecution for refusing to budge out of her way, but yet I felt compelled to do so.  That pressure came from myself, not her.  I put pressure on myself (ok, not much I admit) to respond to this person.  So, at least in this case, the only real pressure I felt came from inside me. 
So this is hugely simplistic example, but I wonder how often more complex scenarios play out the same way.  We are tempted via a very simple stimuli and our first reaction is to go along with the pressure or we begin wrestling with ourselves on how to respond.  I guarantee you that person isn't starting out her day reflecting on the jerk on the bridge last week that wouldn't get out of her way, yet I am.  I had to force myself to evaluate a very simplistic situation and make a conscious decision not to (increase) sin. My conclusion is that a significant amount of peer pressure is really internal pressure.  We worry about how others will respond to our decision.  We worry that others might not like us or think less highly of us.  I think this is but one trap of self-centeredness.  We put pressure on ourselves that is perceived and simply not real, yet we make decisions based on that pressure that at times are the wrong ones.  In reality the other person really only cares about themselves and when you opt out of their sin, they don't care and forget about you as soon as you're out of their way. 
So what are you feeling pressured about?  Is the pressure real or self-imposed?  Sure someone may be asking you, pressuring you, even daring you to sin, but is there really that much pressure to do so?  Sometimes I think we generate pressure that really isn't there.  We try to preserve "friendships" that really are manipulative and abusive with a long string of terrible decisions.  We see temptation coming and rather than listening to our inner voice of warning to simply avoid the situation altogether, we feel pressured to accommodate their sin.
I think often we sense pressure that isn't really there, at least not the amount of pressure we feel.  We need to get over ourselves and remember that most people are out for themselves and aren't really thinking about us or our feelings.  If they do care about our feelings, they won't mind a "no."  If they care about the "no," then they don't care about our feelings and aren't worth remaining in relationship with in the first place. 
Who's screaming up behind your back bumper today?  Are you going to put pressure on yourself to respond or grow up, be self-actualized, and resist temptation?  Seems like a stupidly simple example, but it seems to accurately capture so many situations in my life.