Sundove - POSITIVITY

Self-Discipline Isn’t Always the Answer

So I wasn’t really taught to brush my teeth every day as a kid. So I didn’t. I got to be an adult and realized “hmm teeth are expensive I need to start brushing them” and brushing my teeth twice a day has been on my actual to do list every single day of my college career. It’s a habit I needed to build.

Have I successfully done it? Absolutely not. I’m pretty good about doing it at least once a day, but some days it just doesn’t happen. It’s not that I forget usually, I just had some aversion I couldn’t figure out, until last week.

I’m at the grocery store, in the toothpaste aisle with my roommate, and I complain about how much I hate mint. I FUCKING HATE THE TASTE OF MINT. The taste and the smell, any kind of minty thing in any form, I HATE IT. But literally every “adult” toothpaste in the aisle was some type of minty disgusting nonsense. And my roommate was like “you know you could like get kids’ toothpaste? You like bubblegum right?”

And y’all, it was like the clouds parted. I got some strawberry bubblegum kids’ toothpaste. I brushed my teeth with it and it was a whole new experience. I have successfully brushed twice a day every day since, because the mental block I had towards it is gone! 

I thought my lack of brushing was just a moral failing on my part; I was too lazy, too undisciplined, to build a good habit. But really? I just hate the taste of mint so much I didn’t want to brush my teeth.

This made me realize that when presented with a change you want to make, a habit you want to build, if you’re encountering resistance in yourself, you should lean into that resistance and really investigate what’s causing it, then work on accommodating that. 

Say you hate washing dishes so they pile up and then you’re overwhelmed by how many you have to do. Why do you hate it? Deep down, what about it do you dislike? Is touching wet food super gross for you? Try thick rubber gloves while you’re washing. Does the sound of dishing clanking together grate your nerves? Do them with headphones in and turned up loud. Do you hate the smell? Light some candles, spray some air freshener. 

Do these things instead of gritting your teeth and forcing yourself, then ultimately failing and getting discouraged by your “lack of self-discipline”

TL;DR: When a task is consistently hard for you, relying on self-discipline, forcing yourself, and gritting through doesn’t always work. Lean in and listen to your discomfort, and find what makes the task hard, then try to accommodate that. Also, mint toothpaste is gross.

fall apart and then build up a renewed self

there is no ‘right time’ there is just time and what you choose to do with it 

“You can start over today. Right in this minute. It doesn’t have to be a Monday or a new year to recreate yourself.”

— different-oceans,  writing prompt #73: Write about the lessons you learned this year.

plants i am currently trying to resurrect from their time in the sale section of ikea

Positivity post for mentally ill & disabled people in school who

* Fail classes * Drop classes * Go to a lower level in class * Fail midterms * Can’t do homework * Have frequent breakdowns because of school * Fail finals * Take summer school * Skip days of school * Fail semesters * Push themselves too hard * Take a gap year * Can’t pay attention in class * Need accommodations * Have low GPAs * Give up trying * Drop out of school * Don’t get accepted into college

Academic failure doesn’t mean personal failure! School isn’t everything, and you aren’t a bad person if your grades are low. It isn’t your fault, and you don’t have to feel guilty about it. Your life isn’t ruined. It’ll be okay.