"Do not speak badly of yourself. For the warrior within hears your words and is lessened by them" – David Gemmell
Isn’t this beautiful? Have you ever been a victim of this? Yes you can victimize yourself, just in case you are wondering. I believe to some extent we can de-empower ourselves. Sometimes it doesn’t come from others, but right from our own heart and soul. Coming from such a place makes it even more detrimental. Truth be told, when you do something from the heart, think about how emotionally, spiritually and physically involved you are with that particular thing. Whether it’s investing time and energy in someone or something; it consumes you and all your attention is concentrated on that thing or on that person. That’s what happens when self-doubt and self-deprecation sets in. You end up investing so much time and energy into devaluing yourself that you begin to become it. This can take you on a downward spiral all because the warrior within you has weakened.
Think and Speak Positively of Yourself
See we all have this warrior within us fighting life’s battle on a daily basis and its muscles come from our thoughts and how we think of ourselves. Think poorly of yourself and you weaken its power. Think highly of yourself and you give it strength. When you constantly tell yourself that you are not worthy, you are ugly, no one likes me (which is kind of ok, if you like you), I won’t obtain that position, I will never make it; when you burden yourself with these negative characteristics, what you are actually doing is mentally destroying yourself. And quite frankly, this is the most destructive way to damage the self. Similarly, don’t speak to yourself badly as a joke because your subconscious listens and takes notes. The problem is, it doesn’t know the difference between reality or fake or a joke or no joke. So because it’s doesn’t have the ability to distinguish between the two, it’s imperative that you always speak positively to yourself.
Practice Every Morning
Every day when you wake up, train your mind to think highly of yourself despite what is happening around you. This practice is very important as we live in a world where so much emphasis is placed on vanity and materialism, you become powerless when these things are not at your fingertips. The problem is everyone wants to fit in and fitting in requires you to have certain things. Some try feverishly to obtain these things and when they don’t, they are left feeling low and worthless. Lately there have been so many cases in the media where people fall victim to mental illness such as depression and anxiety which have even led to suicide because for whatever reason they no longer saw themselves as worthy. That little voice that is ever present and your fate, at the end of the day can be bright as the sun or dark as night. It’s all contingent on your thoughts, whether they are positive or negative. Your thoughts control your life. You are the product of what you have been thinking for years. Change your thoughts, change your life. Read blog on self love here.
Take Control
When the warrior inside you weakens, you also give others the opportunity to control you and possibly make you their footstool. It’s crucial that you never allow this to happen. This can occur on much deeper level like in countries that have thrived on patriarchy. In these countries women are led to believe that they are not equal to men. The crazy part is they actually believe this nonsense; and no matter what evidence you provide to oppose such dogmatic views and ideologies, they won’t accept it. From the time these women are young, they are made to believe that women and men are not equal.
The part that saddens my heart is that a large number of these women will even defend these views. It’s this defensive attitude that indicates that mentally, they have been negatively impacted. For example, I was talking to a lady and she stated that she keeps herself covered so that men do not yearn after her, because she becomes the problem as she should have never been exposed. Now why would you want to be responsible for someone else’s behaviour? Why aren’t these men held accountable for their wrong doing/mishap? Why should women be the only ones with self-control? I could go on and on with this topic but to keep in line with the quote above, I will refrain from doing so. All I am saying is that once you have been led to believe something whether through social construction or your own doing, something happens inside you that can either make you or break you.
Train the Future
For people who have children, train them early to not think and speak badly of themselves. Show them through uplifting words and positive actions how to strengthen their inner warrior, so that as they develop and grow into men and women, self-confidence will radiate from their beings. It’s these simply tasks that can be preventative measures for problem years down the road. And for those who are already grown and has weakened their internal fighting power, take some time to listen to motivational speeches like this one that I found on youtube, read uplifting blogs like inspirations Boulevard and praying (if you are religious)
Meditate
Meditation is also perfect place to start to reconnect with yourself. According to studies on Buddhist monks, meditation produces long-lasting changes in the brain activity in areas involved in attention, working memory, learning, and conscious perception. Conscious perception is important because it makes you aware of what you are doing. Once you become aware of something you are either more likely to do it or less likely to do it. And in this case where the habit of weakening your inner warrior is detrimental to your mental health, being consciously aware of this will actually help you do things that will eventually stop these behaviors. So meditate away, after all, it has many benefits. You can read further about the benefits of meditation here.
Final Words
After all is said and done, don’t allow a single day to pass without positively affirming yourself. Life can be difficult at times and you need your inner warrior to help you navigate through the twist and turns along your journey. Show gratitude, be thankful for life and try your best to remain positive even when the journey of life takes you on some rough paths. And yes, easier said than done, but if you keep doing it, it will soon become second nature. Remember, if you change nothing, nothing will change So my friends, until next time, keep calm and blog on.
What actions have you been taking to strengthen your inner warrior?
