“Your mind is weaker than your emotions. But you become aware of this weakness only in moments of adversity–precisely the time when you need strength. What best equips you to cope with the heat of battle is neither more knowledge nor more intellect. What makes your mind stronger, and more able to control your emotions, is internal discipline and toughness. No one can teach you this skill; you cannot learn it by reading about it. Like any discipline, it can come only through practice, experience, even a little suffering.” ― Robert Greene, author and stroke survivor
I hate lines. Yup. That is my confession.
My earliest memory of this was in kindergarten. I believe it was “math”. And the assignment was to color the four boats in the square with the number “4”. My brilliant idea was to just color the entire square. In my five year old little brain, it seemed more efficient. 🤷🏻♀️ Long story short, the teacher trumped my idea and gave me a new sheet to try again. “You must color the boats. And please try and stay in the lines”……..And thus began my hatred of lines.
Now here is the real confession….. I don’t really think I was trying to “flex” a “creative muscle”. I am pretty sure that little round table and little red chair felt like a prison compared to the marry-go-round calling my name through the window.
And no, I don’t believe this was a repulsion to lines. The truth is it was my first (of many) battles with discipline……..doing something I didn’t want to do, when it ought to be done, whether I liked it or not.
The good news is I am no longer 5 and have experienced many opportunities to develop the strength and courage to do hard things. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. In fact, I believe I still have a long way to go.
But here is the thing, I am not where I started.
YOU are not where you started.
Life is the training ground.
And for better or worse, I agree with Mr. Greene.
Discipline……..”can come only through practice, experience, even a little suffering”
Are you currently in the midst of a difficult situation?
Can you reframe your suffering into an opportunity to grow the mental muscles that will undoubtedly add life to your years?
What is one step you can take today to further develop your mind and body into a more fulfilled, more mobile, more able-bodied version of yourself?