new mantra alert: sweeter after difficulties - Issue #19
Dear you,
How are you doing today? I think I want to always update you about new community members who are joining us. Our family is growing. 44 new members just joined our community and it's inspiring.
I wrote a letter earlier based on things I have learned from a book I read in January and re-read last month for the Ingressive for Good's #I4GBookClub.
My goal was to expand on this thread (which I successfully did actually). Then bae called my name and said I needed to get ready. Apparently, he had booked for us to see a movie and the movie was going to start in 30 minutes (the cinema was 20 minutes away). So, I closed my laptop, got ready in about 5 minutes and dashed out with my bae to see the movie - The Lost City.
dulcius ex asperis
As we watched the movie, one thing stuck with me - dulcius ex asperis. It is Latin for sweeter after difficulties. I don't know why it stood out for me, but Sandra Bullocks, one of the main characters in the film, said it right after she successfully climbed a mountain. I resonated with it immediately. It took me back to my childhood when my dad challenged me to solve a further math problem in a textbook used by people one year ahead of me. I remember taking that problem to my teacher, and he couldn't solve it. I went at it for hours, and I still couldn't solve it. Finally, I slept off, and somehow my subconscious kept trying to figure it out until I jumped out of sleep and solved that math problem. I remember feeling s surge of sweetness flow through me. It wasn't just about getting it right. I mean, if I asked you what was 2+2. If you said 4, I don't think you would be overwhelmed with excitement because it almost feels straightforward. But solving this math problem felt different. I felt like I had conquered the world for days. Because it was more complex, and it felt sweeter. I remember this feeling every time I triumphed at something complex or challenging.
it's just like Mario (the game)
For the first time today, I found words for it. I feel a renewed energy. It's so easy to get drained and stressed when working on something challenging. But remember, success feels sweeter when you triumph over that difficulty. So the next time you face something challenging, push through and when you triumph, say this to yourself - sweeter after difficulties because you are a hero and you are hitting incredible milestones!!! You are like Mario in the 90s game. There's no hurdle you cannot cross. Of course, with each passing level, it gets more and more difficult with each passing level, but you just have to figure it out and come out winning. No level is "unwinnable". You can do this!
how would you write it?
Another fantastic thing I saw in this film was when the male lead character asked her - "How would you write it?". It felt like they were living a real-life book, but she wanted something so badly and was battling with doubt, so he asked her - How would you write it? And at that moment, she took the place of an author and wrote her own story. So many of us have often heard that we are the main characters in our story, but one thing we have not acknowledged is that we are also co-authors of our stories and lives. If you didn't like yesterday's chapter, how can you write today's chapter in a way that you would like? What is that one decision you are grappling with and holding back because of fear? If your life was a novel, and you were the author, how would you write it? Well, the good thing is - your life is almost like a novel, and you are the co-author, so how would you write it?
Think about it.
With Love,
Blessing Abeng
If any part of this letter stands out for you, feel free to quote it, tweet it, share it. It might help someone else too.