THE BATTLE IS ALWAYS IN THE MIND

 

BUILDING BETTER HABITS 

When a man knows the battle is always in the mind / Photo Courtesy / Vazhnik

What Is the Battle?

If you can’t hear it from us. Then, I am not doing my job well. The battle is always in the mind. Underline the world always. And what battle are we even talking about? The battle I am talking about. Does not involve a super power inconveniencing the rest of the world. And neither is the battle about inflation raising prices of basic goods and services. The battle I am referring to is the normal challenges you encounter every now and then in your own life. Overall, life is good. Life is good to an extent that it introduces different challenges to help you make progress. Life is not static. You are also not immobile. So things will happen in life that you don’t like. And when that time comes. Don’t die. When you encounter trials in every corner of your life. Don’t lose yourself because things are not happening the way you wanted.    

Even when circumstances become worse. And you are about to submerge. Steady yourself. Do not steady yourself physically. Go inside your mind and steady it. But that is not even where the strategy begins. The strategy to remain stable when you should be sinking. Begins with being rational. See clearly. Hear clearly. Come to terms with what you are struggling with. Accepting that your life is not what you know. That there is pain and discomforts. Feel the pain. Feel the discomforts. Face the shame. Come full circle around the circumstances that are affecting you. Acknowledge all the things that you don’t like in the struggle or circumstances. Everything that is making you uncomfortable. See all those things. Come to terms with them. You must be clear. And accept that you are in a phase you don’t like.

Accepting does not mean throwing up your arms. Coming to terms with something does not mean you remove yourself in charge. Recognizing things, you don’t like means taking responsibility. When you accept that your life has changed. It means that life is asking you for something else. Something that you might not have right now. But life trusts you. Argues that if you stay long enough. And endure in the struggle with a good attitude. You might learn something new. An insight that changes the game. For example, when you remove fear and shame out of your struggle. You can develop needed resilience to face the test. This resilience could come from you immersing yourself deeper. In the type of trial, you are facing. And learning new things about the problem. One of those things being. Knowing the root cause of the problem. When you focus on the underlying cause of the trial.

All Problems Have Solutions

You gain new knowledge of how you should approach a situation. And this should always be the attitude. All types of problems whether ordinary or complex have a solution. Some problems have direct solutions, while other problems require you to put in more effort. Problems with direct solutions might call on you to change a few things around yourself to fix them. You can personally solve these types of problems. In most occasions, change of habits form part of the solution. When you encounter such problems. Life is usually tapping on you. To let go of old bad habits that are no longer helpful. Practices such as, spending too much time on unnecessary things when you have real issues. If you have situations that need your attention. Don’t hide through deflection. Don’t bring up new things to avoid seeing the real issues. See that which scares you. Look at that which you don’t know how to solve.      

An excited man fixing his mind / Photo / Lucxama Sylvain

And change a little bit. Commit to learning new habits that divorce you from laziness, blame games, gossip, slander, witch-hunt, and lies. Invest in your character. Find the right resources and feed it so that it can grow. Develop the muscle needed to handle the problem at hand. When you find yourself in uncomfortable situations. And ending the discomfort calls for change of habit. Don’t hide. Make yourself present and Identify the bad practices in you. And stop practicing them. Fixing such struggles effectively will call for your honesty, commitment, and doing the job of tossing the bad habits away. Sometimes, that is what ordinary problems need. You taking charge. And making the right decisions to choose progress over stagnation. These too though straightforward. Are not simple solutions. Because before a problem is solved.

Someone must see or admit that there is a problem in the first place. Then, this person must follow up with the right action to fix the problem. Fixing a problem whether simple or complex depends on what is going on upstairs. The climate of your mind matters more than the problems themselves. Because if you see defeat in your mind. You will not have the physical strength to change or fight anything. Motivation to bring order in your life when you are in a rough path comes from within. You must first decide in your mind that you will fight. And regain normalcy. The fight must begin in mind before it becomes physical. The drive to seek the right solutions begins in the mind. And that happens with you making the right judgment. This is the second step of your strategy. The first step is coming to terms with whatever has changed in your life.

Don’t React, Just Respond

And second step is having a conversation with your mind.  With the approach being not reacting with a problem. But rather responding to a problem. When you react. You panic because you are threatened by the magnitude of the problem. However, when you take time and see everything. Which includes understanding how a situation turned into a challenge. You can think about the whole situation before taking action. It is like someone stepping on your toe knowingly or unknowingly. Depending on the type of person you are. This can be a big or small thing. A whole argument can be elicited by this incident. Yet, this is an issue, which is under control. If the other person stepped on your toe unknowingly. He/she can apologize. And the apology becomes the solution. And the matter ends there.

People whose state of mind is not in a good place / Photo Courtesy / Cottonbro Studio

However, if your state of mind is not in a good place. A simple problem like this one. Can easily transition into a bad fight. It ends in a fight because you placed your focus on the pain. When the pain gets magnified. Someone will want revenge. However, when you choose to be rational. You will understand that something like that can happen to a normal human being. And instead, of a confrontation. You will accept the apology and move on with your life. This time being aware that you are in a busy place. So you need to be careful. Look at where your foot is stepping. So that if the other person is not looking. You will avoid the collision because you are living in the moment. You are attentive. And because of that. There will be no stepping on toes again. Your trip will be fruitful. And you will come back whole.

And when we extend the same common sense to all uncomfortable things in your life. You can easily see that there is always a solution. A problem always has another way it can be fixed. The first approach being the pain, where you react because of the pain. And worsen the situation. And the second option being the path of calmness, common sense, and empathy. You only end up with this kind of judgment when your mind is calm. When there is no irritation. And when there is no bad mood. You end up with common sense. When you are not looking for a fight in the first place. If you fight to keep the state of your mind secure and peaceful. You will not be a toxic person. You will not be the type of person who is always looking for a fight. You will be calm most of the time. And this calmness will be your super power. Because it will help you see things clearly and rationally.

Don’t Say Why Me

A happy man with a calm mind / Photo / Kindel Media

Such that when you end up with a rough season in your life. You will approach it with the right attitude. Your final verdict will be, it is life. Not why me. When you know life is not static. You will easily accept different outcomes in your own life. You will fight for normalcy when curve balls happen because you know your life without challenges. And sometimes, that little knowledge becomes your hope. That simple truth. Can turn into a whole motivation. Keeping you restless. Until you match a problem with the right solution. Ending up here. Depends with the state of your mind. So when I tell you the battle is always in the mind. I am just reminding you. To find ways to end up with a calm organized mind. One that will serve you when you need it. One that will separate an obstacle from you.

A mind that will remind you about your strengths. And bring into your memory previous bad days. And how you navigated those bad days or months. A calm mind will lead to effective solutions. If the problem is beyond your control. A working mind will ask you to collaborate with the right people. It will eliminate shame and fear. Thereby, giving you more opportunity to focus on finding the right solutions. You don’t win a battle with a toxic mind. So the battle is always to remove toxicity out your system first. Before you confront anything that seems like a threat to your life. Now that you have a whole strategy broken down to bites you can handle. It is time to face those nasty situations in and around your life. And fight all the way to the top. Or until you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck in everything. My job is done here.