Mental toughness.  

Also means “amount of crap one can deal with”.  I would like to think that I come from a long line of mentally tough people. People who are built to cope and handle more “crap” than others.  I’m certainly not suggesting that I have had it any rougher than anyone else, just that my genetic makeup proves that when it comes to handling things-I tend to be able to deal with these issues without allowing my hair to catch on fire.  I am not better than anyone, just built different than many. 

If you have ever been one to read prose and poetry, I have always loved “IF” from Rudyard Kipling.  I have mentioned this in previous posts.  My favorite line from the piece, that happens to be the opening line of the poem  is:

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you”.

Kipling wrote this with his own son in mind.  The whole poem is about how to be a man.  Written around 1894, it’s lessons still hold true today.  I first read this poem when I was 14 and have made it my mantra over the years.  A copy of it has hung in my office for well over a decade.  I see it everyday, but read it when I feel the need for a pep talk.  

People can doubt you, hoping their own shortcomings will lower you to their level of mental toughness.  Not because they don’t like you, but because they are more comfortable with you on their level of vulnerability. Nobody wants to be the weak one and they certainly don’t want to be alone in their vulnerability.  Perhaps, instead of confronting the issue head on, some people circle the wagons, tell everyone who will listen and hope that it just goes away because they talked it to death.  Running around and “losing their head” is too often embraced by those who would be better off applying energy towards dealing with the issue.  When your hair is on fire there are two ways to put it out.  Let it burn out after it runs out of hair or pour some water on your head.  The latter is the solution.  

As much as I love my life, feel blessed and try to always be the most supportive and positive person, there is a side of me that fights with life.  We probably all have some of that internal struggle going on.  As much as I love life and live it the best I can, there is a part of me that longs to tell life to go eff itself.  Maybe it’s my competitive nature or a need to “fight” something in order to feel whole?  Whatever it is, I think it’s perfectly healthy and it’s a factor in what drives me to do more and be more.  You too should embrace it.   It’s not people that traditionally push me-it’s me and my internal struggle that yields results. I guess we all need a bully from time to time, but I’ll be damned if I let any one person bully me.  

I’m fine kicking my own ass.