Women who are not to be trifled with do not neglect to care for their minds and bodies

Last time, we considered how to leverage setbacks and failures from the perspective of "using weakness as a weapon."
This time, I would like to address "mental health," which we often tend to overlook in our daily lives. For a woman to live a life where she is "not to be trifled with," it is essential to maintain a balance between mind and body and to keep a firm core. However, in modern society, where we are constantly exposed to work, interpersonal relationships, and an endless stream of information from social media, we may often be accumulating stress without even realizing it.

First, it is important to understand the fact that having mental health issues is by no means rare. Among women living busy lives, it is not uncommon for people to notice symptoms such as feeling no motivation to do anything or feeling irritable and wanting to lash out at those around you. At such times, it is dangerous to push yourself too hard by thinking, "I have to be strong" or "It's because I'm weak." These negative emotions can be said to be SOS signals sent from the body.

In the world of psychology, many views suggest that "the more you suppress emotions, the more likely they are to run wild." In other words, if you try to forcibly suppress negative emotions, you may end up becoming more conscious of them, which could lead to them lingering longer. Therefore, techniques known as self-insightful emotional processing or mindfulness are effective. By objectively observing the movements of your own mind, it is said that you can more easily reduce stress. For example, even just closing your eyes quietly for five minutes a day and focusing on your breathing can, in some cases, calm your mind surprisingly well.

Another important element of stress management is the method of "moving your body."
Recently, more people seem to be trying to refresh their minds with light exercise, such as yoga, Pilates, or a short walk. When you actually exercise, serotonin, also known as the "happiness hormone," is secreted in the brain, which lifts your mood. When your body feels lighter due to the improvement of stiff shoulders or lower back pain, your mind naturally becomes brighter as well.
The fact that videos introducing simple stretches you can do at home often go viral on social media may be because many people are experiencing these effects for themselves.

Also, essential for maintaining mental health is securing a place where you can talk. In recent years, the means to easily share worries have increased, such as online counseling and communities on social media. Of course, having friends or mentors to whom you can reveal your true feelings is also important. Rather than bottling up work worries or family anxieties alone, just putting into words honestly things like "I made this kind of mistake" or "Why isn't this going well?" will make your feelings much lighter. In fact, women who are described as "not to be trifled with" are surprisingly quick to utilize consultation services. I want you to remember that independence and isolation are completely different things.

So, how do a life where you are "not to be trifled with" and mental health connect? To understand that, you need the perspective that people who have composure are not looked down upon by anyone. Whether at work or in private, when you are overwhelmed, your thinking tends to narrow, and you become overly sensitive to the words and actions of others. You might get depressed over minor criticism, thinking "Maybe it's my fault," or conversely, explode in anger, asking "Why would you say that?" If you have composure in your heart, you are less likely to be swallowed up by such words and actions and more likely to make calm judgments. If you can earn the reputation that "that person is not easily shaken," that alone will bring you closer to a state of being "not to be trifled with."

As for specific stress relief methods, since what suits one person may not suit another, it is important to find what works for you. If you like cooking, it might be good to take your time and try a new recipe. If you like music, singing your heart out or trying to play an instrument might be a wonderful option. Immersing yourself in the world of novels or movies to temporarily reset your daily worries is also a widely practiced method. In any case, consciously securing "time to fulfill yourself" is the key to maintaining mental health.

What I want to be careful about here is that women who are the "overachiever type" tend to view stress relief and rest as "slacking off."
They may have the thought that if they pamper themselves, they won't grow, or that they can't settle down unless they are doing something. However, that might be counterproductive. Originally, maintaining mental health is like an investment for achieving higher performance. If you neglect that investment and break your body or mind, you will end up suffering a major loss.

Also, to stabilize your mental state, it is wise to prepare a certain amount of "escape routes". If you reach your limit by staying too long with a difficult boss or in a workplace environment that doesn't suit you, consider options like looking for a new job or asking for a transfer. If interpersonal relationships are painful, rather than forcing yourself to carry everything alone, consult with someone you trust and explore solutions as a team. Whether or not you can have this "courage to escape" will greatly change the course of your mental health. Escaping is by no means a defeat, but can be positioned as a positive decision to find a better environment.

As we have learned in the series so far, a woman who is "not to be trifled with" is not just someone who keeps trying blindly.
She accepts her own weaknesses, cares for them firmly, and secures escape routes and support as needed. That is precisely why composure is born in her heart, and she becomes less likely to be swayed by the words and actions of others or by changes in society.
As a result, those around her also come to recognize that "this person is unwavering" and "I must treat her with respect." In other words, this might be called a privilege that only women who have built a solid foundation can possess.

Finally, what I want to emphasize again is the stance of "protecting your own mental health yourself". Of course, it is important to borrow the power of those around you and experts, but ultimately, what you feel and what you choose is what matters. Listen to the voices of your mind and body, catch stress signals without missing them, and take the rest and coping methods you need. The accumulation of such self-care is what forms the foundation of a solid personality that others cannot "trifle with."

Next time, I plan to cover "leadership and influence" for women to spread their wings even further in society.
It might sound exaggerated when you hear the word leader, but in this day and age, I think women who can show "their own direction" are what is needed, both at work and in private.