FIGHT your feelings. You probably thought I was using a different F word, didn’t you? This would be a very different blog post if I did. What does it mean to fight your feelings? It means to rely on discipline to get you through the hard days!
There are gonna be some days when you don’t feel like it. When your responsibilities say “wake up!” but your mind tells you “five more minutes.” As someone who battles depression, I often deal with feelings of detachment and lack of motivation to do my work, but something that I’ve learned recently is that discipline will take you places that motivation can’t. If we all shut down every time we didn’t feel like doing something, where would we be?
“Discipline will take you places that motivation can’t.”
There’s also gonna be days when you don’t feel 100%, and those are the days when you have to give 100% of whatever you’ve got! Our “best” is relative, not absolute. For example, when track runners run a personal record in a race, that’s considered their best, but not every track meet is the same; there are several factors that play into performance, such as mood, environment, other people, stress, and coping abilities. So, don’t be discouraged when you don’t feel as awesome as you felt yesterday—focus on what your “best” looks like today and make the most out of it.
I almost made this post/video (yes, I have a video for this, too!) titled “forget your feelings,” but it’s imperative that we pay attention to our feelings, because there are times when our feelings have a deeper root than just laziness, fatigue, or hanger (hunger + anger, not clothing hangers, haha). The point of this post is not to ignore how you feel and push through your responsibilities even if you’re suffering emotionally. The point is to fight those feelings—whether that be offensively or defensively.
The point of this post is not to ignore how you feel and push through your responsibilities even if you’re suffering emotionally.
So, how do we fight our feelings? By fighting for ourselves. Fight for what you’re worth. Stop running on autopilot; become aware of your emotions and what’s causing them. Then, come up with healthy solutions on how to cope with your feelings in the moment and combat them for the future.
Are you always sleepy? Make some adjustments to your sleeping patterns, think about if you have too much on your plate, speak to a health professional for help, etc. Sleep is important!
Feeling depressed? Seek professional advice, or find someone you trust to help you get to the root of your symptoms. My aunt once told me “depression has you, you don’t have depression.” I like that mindset. We have the ability to take control. Don’t just treat the symptoms, attack it from the root!
Feeling burnt out? Create time for yourself. Don’t let hustle culture make you take so much on at once—or convince you that you have to have certain things done by certain ages. If you never have time to take care of yourself, your dream job could easily become a nightmare.
FIGHT for what your mind, body, and soul deserve so that you can make the most out of today, despite your feelings!
