Courage and Strength...

What does it mean to be courageous? How about being strong?

Living in a world full of standards, we tend to question a lot of things... even the most obvious ones.

We tend to think -- overthink even -- if we're doing the right thing or how would people think about me when I do this or that? It's suffocating!

Writing is a tool for me to express my thoughts freely. It's not because I'm afraid to literally speak out, I just find it exhausting.

But with writing, I can free myself from all of the things that's bugging me. It allows me to go with the flow of my emotions without anyone interrupting.

There are instances when thoughts suddenly pop up in my head... bursting, overflowing... and I just want to let them out instead of keeping them to the point of exploding.

I remember that before HIVE and the previous platform, I used to keep a blog with almost zero audience, but I didn't mind... it was just an outlet for my emotions; be it positive or negative.

When the platform before HIVE was introduced to me by a friend, I was really happy because I finally had an audience. I could interact with people who may or may not agree with my thoughts. The monetary incentive was also a huge bonus!

I still consider it that way, so I guess it's one of the reasons why I'm still on this platform writing what's on my mind and things that I enjoy the most.

Now, let me share some Food for Thoughts I got from something I love --- anime!

Sometimes, we tend to ignore our feelings because we don't want to complicate things. We keep them in and choose to hide all these emotions because doing so would make things worse.

There's nothing wrong with that. We all have a choice, but keeping our emotions in for too long could be dangerous.

Sometimes, we end up feeling nothing because we're already too numb to feel anything. It's a sad reality. It's frustrating to think how we're not even able to understand ourselves at times.

However, there are times when we have to face our emotions head on. Acknowledging that they exist and trying to understand why they exist are a good start. It's crazy how sometimes, we don't see the enemy in front of us because in reality they are us. We are our own enemies, but we try to ignore that fact and pretend that everything is normal. We should stop and look within ourselves... get to know ourselves once again.

Hopefully, we'd find the strength to face ourselves... and later on, learn to accept what we really feel and who we really are.

Overcoming our denial stage is a huge step towards acceptance. It does take true courage to do so, but it's not impossible. Yes, we may struggle a lot... we may stumble and fall, but in the end, the most important thing is how we bounce back and move forward.

There are times when I'm fed up with what's happening around me. I'm aware that I'm weak, but I'm also aware that I can still do better. There's still something that I can do to make things right. It's crucial to be aware of the possibilities.

It's natural to pause and rest... it's OK to take a detour from time to time. Life isn't just about achieving our goals, but experiencing its flow.

I won't say that we should never give up because there are instances that giving up on something is the best option. Instead, let's learn to accept the situation and move forward to the direction we think is better for us.

Thanks for reading! Have a great one. :)