30 day challenge | day 12 | what are your mental strengths?

12: [ATHENA] What are your mental strengths?

Athena is the goddess of war. But she does not when war through physical force, rather, through mental strength. She is also the goddess of wisdom. She uses cleverness to defeat her enemies.

I think that my mental strength is that I can allow people to be wrong about me. My whole life I have been judged for my first impression and appearance, even though I am so much more beyond that. I’ve gotten very used to people assuming they know who I am when they actually don’t. And there’s a lot of peace in that. I don’t have to fight to make people see who I am, because in all of my experience, time reveals the truth and eventually people drop their judgement and see who I really am. (Think about it – there are people out there who genuinely think the earth is flat – so don’t take it personally when someone misjudges you.)

I think that my other strength is how I prioritize my wellbeing. And actually the reason that I do this, is so that I can be there for other people. We can’t be good to other people unless we are first good to ourselves. For example, if I don’t get enough sleep one night, I’m going to be crabby towards other people the following day. If I don’t eat enough, don’t get enough nutrition, don’t take time to engage in my hobbies, don’t feel happy and healthy — then I am going to naturally lash out at others, which is not fair to them. If my wellbeing is not 100%, then my wellbeing towards others will not be 100%. I take care of myself not because of me, but for the sake of others. You can’t love other people until you love yourself, you can’t save anyone until you save yourself, you can’t be good to other people unless you are good to yourself, and so forth.

Another mental strength is my ability to let go of control. I think the biggest reason that people go crazy is because they try to control every single thing in life – that’s impossible. I focus on the small amount of things that I can control and put all of my energy into that. If something is out of my hands, I let it go with trust and faith.

My last mental strength is my positivity. And this is huge. It absolutely takes brain muscle to train yourself to see the good in the ugly. This is not to be confused with toxic positivity – I am not blind to negativity, but I simply do not dwell on it. Positivity is a choice – and positivity feels good – so why not choose to feel good? It’s because it takes an enormous amount of energy to be positive. We live in a world surrounded by evil and fear, it is SO EASY to give into that. That’s why positivity is absolutely a strength because it’s not easy at all – but absolutely worth it!!!