Sundove - POSITIVITY

you have the right to recover and enjoy life

Self-Discipline Isn’t Always the Answer

So I wasn’t really taught to brush my teeth every day as a kid. So I didn’t. I got to be an adult and realized “hmm teeth are expensive I need to start brushing them” and brushing my teeth twice a day has been on my actual to do list every single day of my college career. It’s a habit I needed to build.

Have I successfully done it? Absolutely not. I’m pretty good about doing it at least once a day, but some days it just doesn’t happen. It’s not that I forget usually, I just had some aversion I couldn’t figure out, until last week.

I’m at the grocery store, in the toothpaste aisle with my roommate, and I complain about how much I hate mint. I FUCKING HATE THE TASTE OF MINT. The taste and the smell, any kind of minty thing in any form, I HATE IT. But literally every “adult” toothpaste in the aisle was some type of minty disgusting nonsense. And my roommate was like “you know you could like get kids’ toothpaste? You like bubblegum right?”

And y’all, it was like the clouds parted. I got some strawberry bubblegum kids’ toothpaste. I brushed my teeth with it and it was a whole new experience. I have successfully brushed twice a day every day since, because the mental block I had towards it is gone! 

I thought my lack of brushing was just a moral failing on my part; I was too lazy, too undisciplined, to build a good habit. But really? I just hate the taste of mint so much I didn’t want to brush my teeth.

This made me realize that when presented with a change you want to make, a habit you want to build, if you’re encountering resistance in yourself, you should lean into that resistance and really investigate what’s causing it, then work on accommodating that. 

Say you hate washing dishes so they pile up and then you’re overwhelmed by how many you have to do. Why do you hate it? Deep down, what about it do you dislike? Is touching wet food super gross for you? Try thick rubber gloves while you’re washing. Does the sound of dishing clanking together grate your nerves? Do them with headphones in and turned up loud. Do you hate the smell? Light some candles, spray some air freshener. 

Do these things instead of gritting your teeth and forcing yourself, then ultimately failing and getting discouraged by your “lack of self-discipline”

TL;DR: When a task is consistently hard for you, relying on self-discipline, forcing yourself, and gritting through doesn’t always work. Lean in and listen to your discomfort, and find what makes the task hard, then try to accommodate that. Also, mint toothpaste is gross.

fucked up how cooking and baking from scratch is viewed as a luxury…..like baking a loaf of bread or whatever is seen as something that only people with money/time can do. I’m not sure why capitalism decided to sell us the idea that we can’t make our own damn food bc it’s a special expensive thing that’s exclusive to wealthy retirees but it’s stupid as hell and it makes me angry

He loves getting his haircut!

How to be Mentally Strong

1. Don’t look to the world to give you an identity.

2. Don’t look to your family and friends for approval.

3. Set your own goals and believe in yourself.

4. Expect things to take time.

5. Expect to meet with setbacks.

6. Expect people to put you down, and for some to walk away.

7. Don’t be swayed by pressure from others.

8. Don’t resent others’ gifts and successes.

9. Accept that some things cannot be controlled.

10. Believe that you will make it one day.

there’s comfort in the grasses and trees. nothing is ever as good on the heart as the way the winds and flowers are. every day the dirt is calling, this is home. this is home. this is home. don’t be afraid to get dirty.

just a reminder that there’s so much more that we still don’t know about ourselves and that’s what makes life so beautiful. next year you could find your next favorite musician or fall in love with someone you haven’t even met yet. you might see a new shade of green that will become your new favorite color or you could become obsessed with a new food that you thought you once hated. we change as life goes on. we grow as life changes. our experiences shape us into a new person. it’s beautiful.