Stepping into your stress facilities growth
The brave work on their emotions
The brave investigate and work on their emotions, while the weak hide and castigate the brave. We have seen social media provide a breeding ground for trolls who try to attack those who speak up about their battles with their mental health, their anxiety, PTSD or depression. Often, when we are afraid of something, we try to suppress it in others too, putting them down rather than acknowledging their problem (and often our own too). The whole idea of someone being a “snowflake” just because they stake ownership in respect to their problems is laughable.
Being your own hero
When you realise that the chattering noises in your head can be mastered, this is a truly life-changing moment. With each year that passes, we all have increased stresses, increased noise, increased self-doubt, but at some point, we must decide to call a halt to this. We must become the masters of our mind, rather than a slave to the torture. Your day can start with peace and gratitude or pain and suffering. Those choices are stark and straightforward. It is time to be your hero, time to think about your life, your decisions. It is time to stop being afraid of change. Nobody is coming to save you. You must become your own hero, your personal saviour.
Choosing peace over pain
The brave seek help. They realise that flying solo without the input of another is a lonely and challenging place to be. Often, the decision to find an alternative narrative takes a significant event, compelling you to take action. You can also choose to ignore the rallying call. The catalyst can be a relationship break-up, the loss of a loved one or even a complete emotional collapse.
I believe we all arrive in this world with a vessel to carry our stresses. As the vessel fills with water, this water signifies the rising levels of stress through life. For some, that vessel will never overflow, they will reach the end of this lifetime with space in their vessel. For many others, this life can be more challenging. Their early years could have been within a tough parental relationship, abuse, or teenage trauma. Imagine now if you can that each of these traumas is a stone that is being dropped into their vessel. It displaces the water, reduces the space their vessel has for stress in the years to come. As the water levels rise and start to splash out at the top, their mind is now struggling with decisions, the distraction is constant, and their need to find peace over pain is absolute. Just as the stones have been dropped in, they can also be taken out. Finding someone to guide you and to show you how to remove these stones will ease your burden. The more work you do to remove more of the stones, the more space you create, the calmer your mind will become. Stepping into the pain and choosing to find a pathway to peace is available to all.
Are you going to own your anxiety, stress or negative thoughts?
It is straightforward. If you don’t own them, they will own you. That's the choice. It is peace over pain, or you let the pain remain. When someone steps out of their darkness and seeks help, they may be criticised. Many may rather see you conform, self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. But waking up and realising that life is a constant series of decisions (even in this exact moment) and you control each decision, is one of the most liberating feelings you will ever have. Recognise that friends and family may try and hold you back; they may not like you changing because it may require them examining their own lives. However, if your purpose is to remove the stones from your vessel, to liberate your mind, then you must stay focused and true to yourself. Growth and recovery are always painful, but you are playing for a peaceful and calm mind. In that space, creativity flourishes, decisions are simple and happiness can become a constant rather than a fleeting moment.