What topic comes to mind when you think of mental strength? It could be the girly version of not being so emotional and crying after running over a squirrel or more of mental toughness, mind over matter. When I thought about writing about mental strength, I envisioned the idea of being able to handle issues better. I searched on my friend Google "mental strength" one of the first few articles that popped up was a Forbes article. I was extremely curious to see what they had to say about my topic.

The article happened to talk about mental toughness. Professionals, whether it be an athlete or businessman, has to have a high degree of mental toughness to be successful. (If you're wondering why this was on Forbes, they used a soccer analogy to express the world of business) It's not what happens on the field, but instead your preparation. Preparation is not only physical, but mental. Here are  the "Six Elements of Mental Toughness":
1) Flexibility
2) Responsiveness
3) Strength
4) Courage and ethics
5) Resiliency
6) Sportsmanship

Mental toughness is your ability to resist the urge of being down after disappointments.Another site, a body building site  was saying to build something else that is key, your toughness. They four ways it suggested was:
1) Just be tough
2) be consistent
3)be competitive
4) be resolute (determined)

This is such a relevant topic for me and it's been a real struggle recently. Trying to stay strong mentally does not come easy for me and I'm going to try and dig into that a bit more.

First writing Assignment: My "special subject"

For this project, I am going to write about self topics such as self improvement and gaining a stronger mental strength. I want to write about how to live the most fulfilling life, not getting caught up in routine, and being able to handle things better (mental strength aspect)

I picked this topic because I think it is something I think we all could work on and I think a lot about things like bettering myself (<-- that's my thesis). Last week, when I was watching the Chelsea game, even though most people here hate soccer, the commentator talked about the importance of mental strength when he was analyzing Torres. It made me think about my topic and so I added. Improvement is a big thing. People are always changing but I think it is important to not just view and criticize others, but realize everyone is imperfect and that is what makes us human. At the same time, we can fix or change little things along the way. My friends help with recognizing personal faults (hahaha). Today also was a big day in my reflection of being able to handle issues in life. It was the last time to play on one of the fields I have played on for years. The field I won my first big tournament on. The field I won my first state championship on. Before the whistle blew, my coach decided to blurt out that it was the seniors’ last game on this field ever. Pulling at our emotional heart strings, he got me thinking. Walking away from a ground of great memories was extremely difficult for me. For some, it was just another day; our season is not quite over yet. At the end of the day, I thought about how I associate memories and nostalgia too close together. “You can’t live your life with lasts, you can’t be happy that way”, my friend’s mom told us. You cannot and my mental capacity was not strong enough to deal with this, or things like this – lasts.

I'm a little nervous that I won't have enough to write about. Or I'll have writers' block. Or that my thoughts are too confusing and scrambled to put down on a computer.. where other people can see. Things on paper are so much more official. I need to appeal to a more general audience, not telling my story, but using to back up claims to my opinions. I hope that my writing will help me actually change something or apply what I'm writing about to my own life. I predict trouble with the question, it being too broad. My writing style is supposed to be more clearly cut and presentable, like a manual. Usually, I’m a little too random and scatter-brained; I need to make sure it doesn't come out looking like a journal entry, kind of like this one.