“You should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead.”-Elizabeth Gilbert
I feel as if the majority of the quotes I have posted on this blog have been quotes from Eat, Pray, Love. I suppose that's okay because it is one of my favorite books ;). I think I re-discovered this quote at the perfect time, as I have been teeter tottering from wise mind to emotion mind the past couple of days or so.
I realized the accuracy of this quote when I started to think about distressing situations that I have handled skillfully- I can see how the use of skills allows me to continue about my day effectively. However, I can also recall distressing situations that I allowed to tear me apart- and as a result, my emotions intensified and my problems escalated.
I remember when I first started to feel better, I was kind of on guard, waiting for something to go wrong to make me upset again. Over time, I started to see that the positive days and moods were adding up. And Kristen told me that the more positive day I have, the less scary they become, and that I would become less and less likely to revert back to the negativity. I believe that to be true because in the past, I found comfort in being upset, and so, when I felt upset, I sometimes chose to remain in that state of mind. I noticed though, after a decent period of time of consistently feeling happy, when something did happen that sparked feelings of sadness, I did what I could do to invoke feelings of happiness because I was no longer comforted by the sadness.
I think this is related to this quote because if a person continuously allows them self to fall apart, the easier falling apart becomes. The same goes for staying strong- if a person remains strong in times of turmoil, being strong becomes their natural way to cope. When I have a bad day and realize I am coping effectively, I sometimes catch myself thinking "Oh, wow... I'm not falling apart." I have also noticed that when I am feeling sad, I am quick to try to convert my sadness to happiness. I am noticing how sadness is becoming less and less comforting to me and while it does still feel a bit strange at times, I am thankful for my ability to practice staying strong.
I realized the accuracy of this quote when I started to think about distressing situations that I have handled skillfully- I can see how the use of skills allows me to continue about my day effectively. However, I can also recall distressing situations that I allowed to tear me apart- and as a result, my emotions intensified and my problems escalated.
I remember when I first started to feel better, I was kind of on guard, waiting for something to go wrong to make me upset again. Over time, I started to see that the positive days and moods were adding up. And Kristen told me that the more positive day I have, the less scary they become, and that I would become less and less likely to revert back to the negativity. I believe that to be true because in the past, I found comfort in being upset, and so, when I felt upset, I sometimes chose to remain in that state of mind. I noticed though, after a decent period of time of consistently feeling happy, when something did happen that sparked feelings of sadness, I did what I could do to invoke feelings of happiness because I was no longer comforted by the sadness.
I think this is related to this quote because if a person continuously allows them self to fall apart, the easier falling apart becomes. The same goes for staying strong- if a person remains strong in times of turmoil, being strong becomes their natural way to cope. When I have a bad day and realize I am coping effectively, I sometimes catch myself thinking "Oh, wow... I'm not falling apart." I have also noticed that when I am feeling sad, I am quick to try to convert my sadness to happiness. I am noticing how sadness is becoming less and less comforting to me and while it does still feel a bit strange at times, I am thankful for my ability to practice staying strong.
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