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Don't be an emotional wimp
Saturday, 24 March 2007
Life isn't always easy. We all know that. Whether you're in the British royal family, or a peasant in Africa, the world is going to throw all sorts of difficulties your way. Of course, some people have a harder time of it than others, but none of us gets through life without facing some pretty serious challenges.
That life can be hard sometimes, and the world can be a cold, uncaring place is something you should just accept as a given. It's part of existence whether you like it or not.
Of course, life can be wonderful sometimes too, and you should also acknowledge that no matter how bad things are at any given time, a period will come when the sun shines again and you'll feel happy.
But in this article I want to concentrate more on how to get through the difficult times. We have all faced them before, and will inevitably face them again. Whether it's somebody we love dying, a betrayal, financial hardship or health problems, it's guaranteed that somewhere along the way you're going to have to face some kind of serious challenge.
What are you to do about those times when it all seems so difficult?
I think an important skill to develop is that of resilience. Many people in life face similar problems, but some just seem better at dealing with them than others.
And from those who have problems with the hard times, you often hear phrases like "I'm an emotional person" or "I just don't have the strength to deal with this". Such people accept as truth that their emotional state is outside their control. They are people the world does things to, who aren't willing to exercise any kind of emotional strength.
Don't allow yourself to become such a person. It is a sure road to misery.
Instead, when you have to face difficult times, try to see them as a test on your character. Use them to train yourself in the art of resilience. Say to yourself: "Yes, it hurts to be in this situation, and I accept that, but I'm strong enough to see it through until better times arrive".
I'm not going to pretend to you that this is easy. I myself struggle when life throws a curve-ball at me. But the more you battle with yourself to overcome the temptation for emotional collapse, the better you'll get at it. Resilience, like any other skill can be learned. In fact, the path from childhood to being an adult is largely one of learning to deal effectively with life's difficulties.
If you look around you, you'll see people who are emotional wimps and those who have a deep inner strength. Become determined to train yourself into being one of the latter. Life's difficulties will seem less overwhelming if you can achieve this.
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