Bully Yourself?

Is it possible to bully yourself? Is it really? I somehow doubt it. Especially in todays world. We have triple and quadruple ply toilet paper. We can summon any type of culinary dish with the magical glass in our pockets. We have a world of entertainment for a small monthly fee – way more than we can ever get through. The only challenges we face are ones we place upon ourselves.

And we like to place challenges on ourselves. There is something about human nature that likes the hard way and likes it even more when we overcome. I mean just think how popular underdog stories are! We challenge ourselves and we overcome. And then we do it all over again.

When it comes to personal fitness, the end goal is not important – it is the journey. As long as the journey is challenging, the mythical 0% body fat, and muscles that make Thor blush, extend ever further away from attainability. And, most importantly – as long as the journey comes with ways to measure our progress, and we are making progress, then we’re succeeding.

You can tell yourself that you’re not good enough, not strong enough, not clever enough. That’s not bullying yourself. That’s probably being honest with yourself. We know our how lazy we can be. We know how much effort we put into our actions. When we tell ourselves that we have failed, it’s not bullying ourselves. It’s us being blatantly honest. And from that blatant honesty, we give ourselves a gift. We give ourselves the opportunity to see ourselves as we really are. With all our failings, all our shortcomings and even all our strengths.

Knowing what areas you struggle with or can improve in is not bullying yourself. Knowing anything about yourself, weather good or bad is not putting yourself down. And today too many people see it as one and the same. If you dare to say you’re overweight and need to improve, you get told all bodies are beautiful and you can be heathy at any weight. The culture seems to be in this spin of everything is so overwhelmingly positive (except of course when you go against the woke narrative) that you cannot even be honest with yourself.

Knowing where you can do better is a gift. It gives you a roadmap. It is the start of the journey you take in order to get better. You cannot go somewhere without first knowing where you are coming from. You cannot bully yourself. You can only be honest with yourself, your feelings and your thoughts. Only when we are honest, can we begin improving. If we are not honest with ourselves, well, that’s when we begin to believe the lies of this world.

After all, what made the special people special? The realization that they aren’t special in the slightest, and the drive to change that. Telling yourself you’re not good enough is a sure-fire way to start being good enough.