Throughout our lives, we face countless difficult challenges, and many of us, as we grow older, wish to become stronger and wiser in order to navigate life’s hardships more smoothly.
For me, the best way to achieve strength and wisdom is through consistent practices that promote health and awareness of our multidimensional existence:
- Soul
- Mind
- Body
Here are some resources we can incorporate into our routines to help us grow:
FEMININE WAYS
1. **Ovulation**
During this phase, women are literally creating life, which means they have access to their full creative potential.
This is an excellent time to begin planning or launching new projects and making important decisions.
2. **Menstruation**
In contrast to ovulation, menstruation is a time of cleansing and endings—not just for the unfertilized egg, but also for everything that hasn’t worked out during the month, such as:
- Frustrated plans
- The end of a relationship
- Personal crises
- Bad news, etc.
During menstruation, we harness our power by releasing old experiences and emotions that no longer serve us.
This process can feel like a death, but we are often reborn soon after.
3. **Female Support**
There are unique things that only women can provide for us.
Whether it’s our mother, grandmother, girlfriend, or even a stranger, the nurturing and emotional support that women offer is beyond measure.
Sometimes, simply sitting down with one of them over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine can make us feel cared for and at peace with our emotions.
UNISEX WAYS
4. **Crying**
When pain or disappointment feels overwhelming, nothing brings relief quite like a good cry.
This emotional release helps us ground ourselves and take ownership of our feelings and circumstances.
Regardless of the situation, crying can help us emerge in better shape.
5. **Martial Arts**
Engaging in practices like boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, or judo is an excellent way to strengthen both the body and the mind.
These activities also provide an outlet for dense emotions such as anger, fear, and helplessness.
6. **Art**
Painting or drawing can be a powerful means of accessing the subconscious mind and expressing a wide range of feelings.
Engaging in artistic activities fosters self-awareness and unlocks our repressed potential.
7. **Physical Activity**
Regular exercise is another effective way to release emotions and boost happy hormones like endorphins and serotonin.
8. **Spiritual Practice**
Following a religious or spiritual practice fosters a sense of community, provides guidance, and establishes a foundation for our moral beliefs.
This can lead to increased awareness and enable us to better cope with difficult times.
By incorporating these practices into our lives, we can cultivate greater strength and wisdom to face life’s challenges.
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These are all good suggestions. Your use of ovulation and menstruation is an artful way to describe the physical rhythms in a woman’s life. To cope w/ real suffering, however, I think we need to go deeper. We need a relationship w/ God, not merely the outward trappings of religious practice.
Despite working diligently, my foster daughter has lived in poverty most of her life. Abused as a child, she is a single mother with an autistic son for whom she cannot find a qualified pre-school program. She has had a rare and what is believed fatal form of cancer for 5 years now, and has recently had difficulty obtaining her cancer medication.
I have friends w/ Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis watching their bodies deteriorate. I have friends whose loved ones who are disappearing before their eyes from Alzheimer’s Disease and frontal lobe dementia.
That does not even touch on the countless women who have endured infidelity or those who have lost a child. I could go on.
This is real pain. It forces us to come to terms w/ our mortality and to confront the profound issue of why good people suffer. Which is where God comes in.
We do not always come through such suffering bright and shining or stronger. Many times, we are broken. We cannot put the pieces together, cannot even recognize ourselves. We carry scars.
But God suffers w/ us. It is He who sustains us; He who holds us up.
The Bible puts it this way: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Cor. 4: 8-10).
Sorry to go on at such length.
Blessings,
A. ❤
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Hi Anna.
First of all, no need to apologize for your long reply. I really appreciate hearing your thoughts!
I’m so sorry to hear about the tough situations you’ve shared. It must be incredibly hard to watch your loved ones go through such pain, and I truly wish the best for you and them during these times.
As for my post, I was really trying to focus on practical strategies to help us build resilience rather than eliminate suffering altogether.
I don’t believe in quick fixes and definitely don’t recommend simplistic solutions for everything we face.
My goal is to share useful tools that can assist people in coping with suffering, trauma, and life’s challenges in a mindful way.
I completely agree that “we do not always come through such suffering bright, shining, or stronger.” I’ve seen this in my own circle too, and I’ve faced my share of tough times since childhood, still dealing with some of their effects today.
I tend to keep these experiences off the blog since that’s not really its focus.
Oh, and I briefly touched on my thoughts about the relationship with God in item 8, “Spiritual Practice.”
Thanks so much for sharing your insights again! 😘🌹
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I overreacted to your post, Aline. My comment was not though meant as criticism. You were attempting to provide practical advice which clearly you did. ❤
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That’s ok, Anna. It happens. ❤️❤️
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You are very kind, Aline. Thank you for understanding. ❤
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It’s my pleasure.And you’re also very kind, Anna. 🌹🌹
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