Becoming the best version of yourself is, and always will be, a constant battle. There is no stopping the consistent flow of thoughts and emotions.
There will be times along your journey when life feels effortless. Your thoughts will either be non-existent or positively charged. You will be optimistic about the future, unbothered by the past, and focused fully on the present.
Every day cannot be like this. The battle will arise within your mind and the minutes will creep by incessantly. The future will look bleak, the past is full of mistakes, and the present will be something you wish to escape. These times will be “bad” and you’ll want nothing more than to experience the “good” again.
You cannot experience the good without knowing the bad.
No matter how much work you do on yourself – exercise, healthy diet, therapy, self-reflection, journaling, meditation – you will find yourself in moments of despair. The complex chemical reactions within your mind and body will collude against you and you’ll fight the constant flow of negative thinking and emotional impulses. It’s inevitable, but it shouldn’t be immobilizing.
Knowing you don’t always have control of your body’s wiring doesn’t mean you give up. Your daily choices play an immense role in the frequency of inner battles. Your sleep, your diet, your fitness, and mental conditioning all result in a higher likelihood of peace. These things do not guarantee peace, but they do more than inactivity ever could. It may not feel like it, especially when you’re just starting the process, but in time, you can expect more “good” days.
I’ve done a lot of work on myself this year and I’ve experienced a lot more “good” moments and even full days. However, I never expect it to always be like this, and I never will. I slip up and Nature flows indefinitely, leading to battles. A restless night results in irrational thoughts, a skipped workout alters the chemical flow, a few drinks spikes the cortisol, a life lived outside of routine leads to a mind separate from peace. But life is meant to be lived. Experiences are meant to be had. Consequences are always close behind.
Knowing you don’t always have control of each moment can be terrifying. You may ask “what’s the point?”. If I’m to do all this work on myself, but wake up feeling like shit again, why should I even try? Even with everything I’ve done, these battles rage on within my psyche. There are days when I want to give up all the self-improvement, self-therapizing, and philosophical reading. I want to lie down, allowing the couch cushions and my thoughts consume me until it’s time to go to bed, hoping tomorrow will be better. When this happens, I respond to the war cries of negativity with the retaliation of rational action. An army doesn’t drop their weapons in the heat of battle, they stand tall and push back.
There are probably people out there, e.g. monks, who fight few to no battles of the mind. I think even they experience thoughts they’d rather not have, but they’re better equipped to face them head on, preventing them from overwhelming their system. For the more common individual like you and me, there’s a lot more work to be done if we ever want to come close to experiencing the mind of a monk. They dedicate their lives to that clarity, so unless you choose to go that route, you have to do all you can to build your army while also living the life you chose for yourself.
Don’t let the fear of another “bad” day prevent you from trying to have a “good” one. I believe whole-heartedly that healthy habits improve your chances of positivity and feeling more in tune with the flow of Nature. The habits that help you will be different from mine, but I believe some are universal – a solid sleep schedule, staying active, and some form of mental strengthening like philosophy or religion. Your life is in your hands. You are not at the whim of your environment. Find the things that improve your mind and body. What activities lead you to more happiness and peace?
Do as much as you can as often as you can to postpone the battle, but never assume the war is over. Enjoy the “good” days, but know you can’t experience the “good” without knowing the “bad”. When the tough days come, stand tall, revert to rational habit, push yourself to do the things you know are beneficial, no matter how much you want to give in to the anxiety or depression. Every day will bring a new flow of thoughts and emotions. All you can control is how you respond to them.
November 24, 2025
