You never know how strong you are, until you have to be. It’s true. We may see ourselves as strong, we may talk tough a tough game and we may even truly mean it. But we can’t know how strong we really are until life events knock the wind out of you and mercilessly leaves you crumpled in a heap. It’s a terrible, out-of-control feeling and at first, we are just recovering from the blow. Depending on the circumstances, however, we might have different strengths . . . some that help us and some that don’t.
ENDURANCE
We look at endurance as a strength, and it is, if it is employed properly. Enduring a hard situation, being able to face the backlash in the wake of healthy changes, suffering the loneliness while learning to be alone. . . these are all good examples of endurance. A bad example of endurance, however, might be when we’ve taken a blow (emotionally or physically), but we go back to the person who hurt us. We have a tolerance built up for abuse that is unhealthy. It’s important to examine if your endurance is a good strength, or keeping you in a bad situation.
DISTRESS TOLERANCE
Like endurance, our distress tolerance might be a positive strength. We can’t be successful in life if we fall down and become non-functional every time something doesn’t go our way. We have to have the ability to withstand some of the distress we will go through in our lives. . . busy, stressful times at work, health issues that arise, financial hard times, caring for aging parents, and having a young family are all examples. These are some of the day-to-day stresses we need to have a tolerance built up for to help get us through. Sometimes, however, we are accustomed to living in chaos and distress. It feels normal and oddly comfortable to us. When that is the case, our distress tolerance might be a not-so-good strength. People who grew up in chaos have such a tolerance built up that they don’t know how to function without stress and drama, so much so that they may even do things to keep them in distress. Learn more about distress here . . .https://healingheartsofindy.com/build-your-distress-tolerance/
PAY ATTENTION
Strength is a good thing, but pay attention to whether it is serving you well or not. If you need help sorting it out, we are happy to help. Our team of trained and experienced counselors can help shed some light on your strengths . . . the good and the bad!
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