Who Are You, Exactly?

Do you ever have those moments where you question yourself?  When you doubt your own abilities, question your confidence, are mentally drained, or are simply "just over it"?  Whatever "it" is, I think we all can relate at some point in our lives.  Well, here are some ways to overcome those tough times and give yourself that "WAKE UP" slap in the face that, we so drastically need during those frustrating moments. 

⇙⇙  Relatable emotion for anyone??  ⇘⇘

Gif was taken from a scene in the film Malcolm X (made in 1992)

That iota of time where it seems as though you are sizzling hot water getting ready to boil over the pot...Yeah, that's not a time you want your picture taken, is it?  No matter who you are, the feeling of being "fed up" has entered your conscience at least one time or another.  For some people, pent-up stress can cause them to become pressure cookers who explode with a rush of fury and by colorfully lashing out, if not attended to.  I can wholeheartedly relate to this because of my occasional dreary outlook on the uncertainty of my future.  Becoming frustrated by the mental battles we try so hard to endure, can give the illusion that positivity is a fairy tale.  Somehow the “reality” of our issues seem to always outweigh any form of optimism that is held hostage in the repressive dungeon of our minds.  Believe it or not, a paradigm shift in that exact moment can be the key to freeing us from this bewildering vexation.  I'm telling you right now that it is not easy, but it is possible!  When you have this turnabout in your mind while these woes are pelting down on you seemingly at every turn, you will become mentally stronger as an individual.

Picture of a Spartan from a scene in the film 300 (made in 2007)

To start, I would encourage each of us to ask ourselves the question: "who am I?"  By asking this, we are automatically forcing our brains to search for words to describe ourselves.  As memories and experiences flash through our memory, we should try to summarize the life lessons we learned about ourselves.  While doing this, I would advise focussing on five positive attributes or qualities that best describe who we are.  We can even write them down if seeing them visually helps us to internalize them.  Whether they are personality attributes or your own pet peeves, it does not matter.  As long as you acknowledge your own traits inside you, it will do you a world of good. Personally, I view one of my positive attributes as being someone who is stubbornly resilient.  The ability to bounce back and recover from setbacks, as well as being stubbornly determined creates self-confidence and will-power that allows me to push through trying times.  Mixing a positive quality resilience with one that can be seen as a negative (stubbornness), shows me that I can honestly turn a perceived negative characteristic into a positive one.  The reassurance that I possess these two traits enables me to realize that the current frustrating situation is not something that will break me.  We should make our top 5 Go-To Attributes easily accessible as reminders of who we are and what we are capable of overcoming.  Keeping calm amid the storm is going to be a fight.  We have to be warriors when it comes to fighting off the pressures of our circumstances because they will overtake us if we are not careful.  That is why we must have something to aid us during those turbulent times.  Using the five attributes idea works for me, although this tip might not necessarily work for everyone, it can never hurt to try!  By choosing a positive mindset and developing mental encouragement, there is a chance that we will be able to cut down those emotional explosions and replace them with a reassured refocused mentality.

Recognizing that whatever we are going through maybe training for bigger things to come in life, can be encouraging.  It might sound a bit cliché, but in the grand scheme of things, it allows us to look past our current set of tribulations, and regard them as stepping stones.  Later, as we look back on these times of misfortune, we might view our battle scars as crucial points of growth, or lessons that we learn from.  Who knows, we might even be able to look back and laugh.

“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle”.

-Napoleon Hill