I was doing some organizing recently and remembered that I have the game “We’re Not Really Strangers,” and thought about how many times I wanted to play this game with friends or boyfriends and either never got the chance or they didn’t want to.
Well, I decided to play that game anyways, but with myself! Whenever I feel so inclinded, I will pick a card from any level, and answer it in the form of a post.
Today’s card comes from Level 2: Connection, and the question is this…
“If you have, when was the moment you realized you weren’t invincible?”
In truth, I think I have always been aware of my ability to get hurt simply because I was always doing the safest thing. Yet when it really clicked for me was seeing my parents age and recognizing that they are in fact not invincible. After that moment I quickly became aware of my loved one’s mortality, as well as my own.
That realization put the rest of my life into perspective. To see how others my age were acting and realizing it would never be worth it, if the consequences would be so harmful or permanent. Through realizing my own mortality, that I could not live on through books or by some magic, I knew that I would never be invincible in this life.
However mentally is another story. Somehow, in some ways, we are quite invincible mentally, though at the same time we are not. Our brain protects us in so many unimaginable ways, but even our mind has it’s limits.
I think when I was young, even when I was in overwhelming heartache or discomfort, I always knew I could push it all away and move forward eventually. That if I ignored my pain it would go away.
My realization that my mind is not invincible, or rather that it doesn’t have to be invincible, came when I started therapy. Where I continued my journey into my self-worth, confidence and ability to be self-aware and reflect realistically.
I grew to understand that like my body, even my mind has limits, and so much of my life had pushed me right along that edge.
And yet, through recognizing my lack of invincibility in this life, I grew stronger in body and mind than if I had thought myself invincible.
A Series of Observations 