Been thinking about this for a couple days and overall been reflecting on how important mental strength is needed in life. I think one thing a lot of people fail to realize is what happens internally is more important than what happens outside. What happens internally lays the foundation for everything else. I was rereading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius for like the 5th/6th time now and one main emphasis is how important it is to look internally. One important quote from the book is "Choose not to be harmed, and you will not be". If someone does something to offend you or just to get a reaction, the decision is still yours to let it affect you or not. We choose to let little things ruin us and also have the choice to turn a closed eye to it like it never happened.
In life I think a lot of individuals struggle with this because of course mental health is really important and lays the foundation for a lot of other things. People who deal with anxiety, depression and other issues have a harder time going through each day than the ones who don't. For those people it is the fight inside that impacts their daily life and behavior. Fighting the battle inside is the first step to be able to open yourself to what is happening outside in the world. Mental Strength is really important because looking inward and solving what is happening there is the first step to conquering the things you have to deal with in the real world. Another important Marcus Aurelius quote is "Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions not outside". Our perceptions play a huge role in this instance and seeing our struggles as good or just obstacles to get us to where we need to be is a different perception that will take us to where we need to be. It is all in the mindset and of course it begins in the mind.
Once you get the mental side of life figured out, everything else becomes easy. It's like having a map and compass to guide you to your destination. Some ways to gain mental strength are meditating, praying, reading, and overall embracing peace and quiet. Time alone or solitude as the stoics call it is very important and we should all seek more solitude. Our thoughts become more open to us when we are alone and have the chance to fully listen to what goes on inside our head. All this takes time but it is an important aspect of life that should be highly emphasized. Take care of what goes on up there first then think about the rest.
One of the people I'm motivated by and really look up to with how he influenced the world is Mahatma Gandhi. He said that "A man is the product of his own thoughts, what he thinks, he becomes". What we think or ourselves is a good proclamation of how or who we are. A positive mind brings positive thoughts and a positive life. No matter what happens, we should always look on the bright side and even through the bad we should appreciate the position we are in and embrace the journey because it's all part of it and things could always be worse.
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