Fighting Talk: When in hell...

“If you’re going through hell, keep going” 

Winston Churchill

It’s a great clique to turn to Churchill for inspiration, especially when you’re going through some battles. The man certainly knew how to spin a phrase and spur a crowd. Include this to his World War Two credentials and you're always going to be on to a winner. I've almost been avoiding using him in this feature on the very basis that it’s too much of an easy option. Finally, however, I relented.

You may not like Churchill, and his politics. Frankly I’m not much of a fan. I'll spare you the history lesson. But no one can deny that he knew how to push on, for better or worse, when everything, and everyone, stood against him.

This quote encourages me to push on through struggle, so that I can get to the other side. I’m reminded that if you’re going through hell, and you stop, then hell is exactly where you’ll stay. If you ever want to get somewhere better, you have to keep going.

Everybody goes through tough times. Whether that's in your past, present or future. Don't give in to it, because you can beat it. Great people are remembered for what struggles they overcome, not for giving up. 

Fighting Talk: I am not silenced by the darkness

"Yet I am not silenced by the darkness" Job 23:17

I mentioned in my last post, and possibly before, that I have struggled with my mental health for a number of years. Since this week is the start of the mental health awareness campaign, I thought that it would be appropriate to share one of the phrases that encourages me through my battle with depression.

This verse is particularly close to my heart, and not just because I have it as a tattoo on my chest! (I'll spare you all from a photograph.) I first came across this verse when I was in a particularly desperate place. Reading this gave me the strength not to do something which I would have always regretted. 

When I read this I am reminded of two things. The first is that I should never be silent when I'm having a 'bad day'. Not talking about mental illness is part of why it has become such a big problem for many of us today. The taboo that still surrounds mental illness causes misunderstanding and isolation. Also, for me, when I don't talk to people when I'm struggling with my mind, I find that it festers and is able to take root. Depression wants you to stop talking about it, so that it's the only voice you can hear.

The second thing that this verse reminds me is, to never be silent about the evil you see in the world. I don't mean that we should all take it upon ourselves to fight for every single cause that comes our way. That's impossible. But I think that it's important not to become used to injustice. I never want to be someone who accepts an evil as inevitable, and unchangeable. I'm passionate about seeing injustice challenged. This verse reminds me not to let the world tell me that it can't be done.