Learning to Govern My Own Mind
There was a time when I thought being strong meant being able to handle whatever came my way and not letting it affect me. Life has taught me differently. Some of the hardest battles I have faced were not with people or circumstances. They happened in my own mind. Fear made me doubt myself when I knew I was capable of more. At times, it made me remain silent when I should have spoken. I have also allowed criticism to stay with me longer than it deserved. Looking back, I realize how much power we can unknowingly give to our thoughts. If we never learn to govern what is happening within us, eventually it begins to govern us. A few years ago, I experienced fear in a way I had never known before. I was accosted on our farm, robbed of my truck, threatened, tied up, and told that I could be killed. In that moment, fear was not something I was reading about or trying to understand. It was real. The situation eventually ended, but I discovered that the mind does not always move on as quic...