Mental health has been taboo in the past. People resented talking about it and feared to even mentioning it. As with everything, times change and people change. They started to talk about it and it did wonders in their lives. It has been the subject of a few movies. It is a strange thing, that when we talk about our innermost thoughts with someone we trust and feel comfortable with, say, parents, siblings, or friends; we suddenly feel very powerful like we are in control of our lives and we can become better, best versions of ourselves. We can say this is the power of expression, the power of expressing how we really feel.
We walk, exercise, play, or gym to keep our physical selves in shape. To be mentally strong, we need to exercise our brains. We have to perform certain acts which emphasize mental well-being daily to keep our brains in shape. 😊
Let’s talk about Power…
Either you have power or you give away your power. But you can always regain your power. Let me illustrate this with an example.
New parents who give in to every wish of their child, no matter how trivial it might be, give power and control of their child to the child himself/herself. And that innocent child who now has this power almost always doesn’t know how to use this power for good. This makes the child think that the world owes him/her everything on a silver platter. I may have gone off-topic, but we can see how one thing leads to the other. How parents giving their power away makes their own child spoiled.
I specifically mention ‘new parents’ because things can go right or wrong in the beginning. But we can correct our mistakes anytime we want.
If parents say no to their child’s trivial wishes, he/she might react in a way that can make the parents give in to the child’s wishes. But if parents give their child some time, he/she will cool down and may think about why mom and dad refused to fulfill his/her wishes and understand their point of view. Or when the child cools down, he/she would go to their mom and dad and then they can explain to him/her why they refused to fulfill his/her wish.
This is one instance where people give their power away.
Individually we give our power away by :
i. Depending on others and things to regulate our feelings.
ii. Letting other people define our self-worth.
iii. Avoiding addressing the real problem.
iv. Becoming victim of our circumstances.
v. Becoming highly sensitive to criticism.
vi. Not speaking when it matters and ruining relationships.
vii. Listening to other people and losing sight of our goals.
So now the question is...
How to reclaim our power?
Be confident in who YOU ARE!
Your entire self-worth, 100% of it, should depend on how YOU feel about YOURSELF not how others feel about you.
Put up healthy social boundaries. You may receive some backlash but YOU having a strong sense of self-worth, will learn that you can tolerate the repercussions.
Source: 13 Things That Mentally Strong Don’t Do By Amy Morin