Self Esteem & Personal Strength - Page 2

On April 11 2011 16:41 HULKAMANIA wrote:
My wife is really scared of being stung by bumblebees. Terribly scared. I mean to the point that she runs screaming at the sight of one or just freezes up when a bee goes by. It's not because she's deathly allergic, either. She's just never been stung so she doesn't know how truly un-traumatic an experience it is.

My guess is that you're a little like that with the thought of physical abuse.

You might honestly try to involve yourself in some sort of activity that forces you to get really physical and/or aggressive. Something like boxing would be ideal. Once you've passed that threshold where you realize that getting punched in the face isn't the end of the universe, I think you always carry yourself with a little more confidence. It's not that you become billy baddass or something, you just realize that getting your ass kicked doesn't even typically ruin your week,* much less your life. When you make that realization, a yelling roommate doesn't seem so impossible to deal with. I mean, what's he going to do? Kick your ass? You still don't have to clean up his shit if you don't want to.

(I realize this is a very little-brother mindset. I had two older brothers so I learned the value of being able to endure a beat-down very early on.)



*There are, of course, situations in which an ass-kicking could ruin your life. Fighting in the street or at the bar or something like that is genuinely dangerous and stupid. But this blog is about interpersonal relationships with friends and acquaintances and, unless you're rooming with Charles Manson, the worst that's going to happen to you is that you're going to get roughed up for a little bit.