like, if i’m feeling bad but force myself to do something, i usually feel better. how to maintain the usefulness of this advice without presenting it as ‘fuck your feelings’, in that usual arrogant right wing sort of way
Stoicism
“I have to get over this some time, why not now?”
~ Louis Wu, from Ringworld, written by Larry Niven.
“Because I’m not ready” is also a valid answer, but it gets your brain moving towards the goal I find.
Don’t let your emotions rule you.
I’m also fond of a line from The Matrix: There is no spoon.
Buckle up Buckaroo
Edit: The wife and I always use the term “rally”. Like, “Here we go a-rallying again” or “we’re rally-gals today”. So maybe instead of “man-up”, you could try “It’s time to rally”?
Don’t be such a pussy, pussy, You a damn pussy.
There is something of a line between self-care and self-coddling. This is an example of active self care. Sometimes feeling better is a matter of building resistance to the desire to administer convenient but less enduring instant self gratification.
Maybe conceive of it as refusing to spoil your inner child who operates emotionally and not logically?
Doesn’t roll off the tongue
When I was strugging with motivation in getting out to go for a run or whatever I found “Just do it” to be fairly effective. Only later realizing I was lifting the Nike slogan. Still, it works for me.
Adversity is inevitable, mistakes are your greatest teacher. Learn and grow, or become your own prisoner.
Feelings are just chemicals in your brain. Don’t let those tiny bastards win.
In Swedish we say “Har du tagit Fan i båten, får du ro honom i land”.
In English it would be “If you put Satan in your rowboat, you’d better row him ashore.”
The English equivalent is “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”
“Fuck it, I give up”
I’m not very succesful in life.
Just keep swimming…
Suck it up.
Embrace the suck.
Stop being a pussy (I use this sparingly and only around people who I know can handle it. If they take offense, I tell them since I, being a woman, have a pussy, I get to say that. I am reclaiming the word.)
“Pussy up”
You wasted an opportunity there.(also a woman)
regardless of what we are, there are many valid options. Language is diverse. Embrace the diversity.
Ahh good call hahaha
I try to think about how happy and content Future-me will be once the job is done. I confirm the accuracy of this thought to myself by thinking back to how it was in the past when I completed some task that was difficult for me. So I think of an experience where I realized in hindsight that it wasn’t actually that bad and that I was worrying for nothing that I might somehow fail. And even with things that ultimately didn’t go well, I can still reassure future-me that there was no need to make a big deal out of it, because even my failures have lost their horror over time; for example, embarrassing moments at school, awkward dates or bad presentations at work. All these things are just water under the bridge or at best even funny when I think back on them today - and that’s how it will be in the future: as soon as the job is done, I’ll be alright, regardless of whether I succeed or not.
Persevere.
