The Struggle is Real
I struggled to come up with a topic for today. Why? Well, I didn’t prepare properly and I, historically, Can generally put something together at the last minute. I tend to function best under pressure. But what happens when that doesn’t work out. There are many times that I just can’t slap something together. What then? What happens when your “go-to move” isn’t working?
For me, those times lead to frustration. Deeper struggle. The key to progressing forward is what I have learned to do with that struggle and frustration. I like to double down on that feeling. I hedge my bets on the process and make myself dive deeper.
I use that as fuel. Fueling me to drive harder and to dig deeper. Sometimes I have to dig a really deep hole in order to find the motivation or the answers. The deeper that I dig, the harder it is to come out of that hole but in the end, I always find but I’m looking for in there.
The struggle is what shapes me and yet it’s the thing that we tend to try to avoid, myself included. The saying goes “embrace the suck” but how often do we truly embrace it? Leaning into it is something I have talked about before but it is much easier said than done.
How do I get through the struggle:
- Breathe - It will all be alright. The sooner I get my heart rate settled and my mind slows down, the sooner I can nail whatever it is that needs my energy
- Awareness - Assess the pitfalls of the task. Acceptance of the harder parts of whatever I am going to do allows me to have a plan for when they happen
- Self Talk - Very important for me is to look in the mirror, sometimes literally, and remind myself that I can and I will. I have fought through harder stuff before and emerged from the smoke. This time is no different
- Double Down - Really invest me into whatever is needed to complete the task
The word struggle is a word that when we hear, we cringe. We know the context. We know what it means to struggle.
We work very hard to ensure that our children and family don't feel the struggle. Sometimes we even put ourselves into compromising situations to make sure that those we care about don’t struggle. As a society, we have an extreme aversion to discomfort.
What if I told you that the struggle is what you need? We are all “from the struggle” whether that is your upbringing, college debt, losing a job, or a failed relationship. The struggle is what shapes us and helps us realize what is really necessary.
Struggling, and subsequently, surviving a struggle makes us feel accomplished, powerful. It makes you feel like you actually matter.