I’ve always been a middle of the road person. Someone who balances well, compromises, and avoids conflict (I’m too lazy to fight). In the last 8 years I’ve had a couple car accidents that resulted in health struggles. When challenged, I respond by learning, so that’s what I did. A lot of learning about health and wellness. This is the first in a series of blog posts aimed at sharing some of the things I’ve learned, and thoughts I’ve had.
Of course - disclaimer - I’m in no way a certified professional in any physical or mental field, these are the thoughts of a layman, please always defer to your doctor or psychologist/psychiatrist and take what I write with a truckload of salt.
Anyhow, up first is a random inspiration I had that may just be a load of gobbldygook. Feel free to tell me so in the comments!
Sponge Theory
I often end up in conversations about mental health and general struggles with adulting in the modern world. Being a teacher, I have a list of different analogies and bits of advice to give when warranted. Things like “Don’t do all the things, just do the NEXT thing. Even if that’s just sitting up in bed instead of laying down.” Or “Be selfish. Like, completely selfish. You want people to like you and do things for you and give you stuff. It’s necessary for survival in human communities. To do that, you need to treat those around you with kindness and respect, then they’ll want to do stuff for you.”
So here’s my new one.
Be a sponge.
1. Balance—A sponge is useless if its completely dry (you basically have to soak it to rehydrate it, wring it out, then use it to clean that spill) or completely saturated (no more room for liquid). So find a balance point in life where you have just enough (stress/fun/work/play/sleep/exercise, etc) going on so you always have room for more, but could also chill and do less.
2. Learning—If you enter a situation feeling like you already know it all, or don’t need to know it, there’s no room for new knowledge (classroom, political discussion with a friend). If you enter a situation with zero knowledge and understanding, you likely won’t learn anything either (It’s hard to understand trigonometry if you can’t count, and you definitely can’t learn how to fix a washing machine if you don’t understand what a screwdriver is).
3. Love/Friendship/Relationships—Have room to listen and accept when you need to change/adapt. If you don’t care to listen, you can’t do so. But also be aware of when you are full. Communicate that and figure out what you need to do to get back to balance.
4. Yoyo Competition Training–Balance here as well. The hardest thing to get into someone’s head (and I’m guilty of this as well) is when to STOP. If you are training hard and you start getti¬ng mentally or physically fatigued, you’ll make mistakes. If you keep practicing and keep making mistakes, you’ve started practicing mistakes which will follow you onto the stage. Further, if all you do is train, you’ll burn out. You need to spend time having FUN with the Yoyo as well!
What do you think? Silly analogy? Or should I start drafting my self-help book? Haha!