Mental Strength in Tough Times

Inspiration in Tough Times

It seems these days one never has to look far to find a source of inspiration. With so much of the world’s collective knowledge at our fingertips, we can find the biographies of heroes and heroines within minutes. My latest finding is the American poet, memoirist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. The sheer insightfulness and relentlessness of spirit that is shown in her poem Still I Rise resonates with something deep within me.

Take the first verse;

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the dirt
But still, like dust, I rise.

This makes me think of how history is told by the victors of struggles, which itself relates to the old adage ‘it’s not what happens, it’s how you tell it.’ This is key on an individual level – our subjective personalities are a combination of the interdependence of our own narratives and those in the social world around us – we are what we think we are.

However, none of us can exist in isolation. As the poem builds to its conclusion the use of personal and historic imagery demonstrates the importance of drawing on something larger than oneself;

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

The final lines are an uplifting reminder of how far society has come, it’s not so distant dark past, and for me, the importance of persistence and individual strength against oppression;

I am the dream and the hope of the slave,
I rise…I rise…I rise.

What Is Mental Strength?

According to the Positive Psychology Program to have mental strength, one must have:

• adaptability
• endurance
• steadfastness
• dependability
• effectiveness/sense of efficiency

A few years ago when I was in a very different state of mind to that I’m in now I conjured up a mantra. It went Still Alive, Still Breathing, Not Giving Up. Somewhat indicative of the mental state I was in, I saw life as a struggle and those who got in my way as forces of oppression. For that particular stage of my life and conditions it was melodramatic and over the top, but subjectively I was in a mess. The stories I was telling myself were of struggle but the struggle was imaginary.

I had adaptability, endurance and perhaps steadfastness, but I was a little crazy and so couldn’t be depended on. There was no efficiency as the ’cause’ I had involved myself with didn’t make sense to anyone in my life.

I don’t wish to go any further into this particular anecdote here, but it’s enough to say that I have come a long way to find mental peace and stability in the years since. Now though, storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, a challenge is brewing. Within the year, I will face a real struggle like nothing I’ve faced before.

Have Hope

This morning I felt overwhelmed by the number of tasks involved in the setup and the coming struggle but knowing that others have faced so much suffering and pain and survived to become heroines for their causes fills me with hope. Whether or not I use my previous mantra, I intend to come up with something to help me have hope and to ensure that whatever this year brings, I will rise to it.

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