Home page » Phraseologisms » The meaning of the phraseological unit “pull yourself together”
Author: Maria Znobishcheva
Philologist, candidate of philological sciences, poet, member of the Union of Writers of Russia. Publication date:09/15/2021
How can you pull yourself together? Sit hugging your knees? Or grab your own shoulders tightly, folding your arms crosswise on your chest? Try to cope with this task - and, if you are not a yogi, you will have many clarifying questions. Let’s find out who came up with this expression and why right now.
Is it worth coping with the situation: a comparison of “before” and “after”
| Before | After |
| You understand that life has gone out of its usual rut. You need to analyze the situation, assessing its risks and take effective action to eliminate unpleasant consequences. | By applying techniques for overcoming a difficult situation, you direct your life in the right direction. Without losing faith in your strength, you do not waste time on “toxic” emotions and complaints about the injustice of life. |
| By weighing the pros and cons of the current situation, you are preparing yourself to, by turning on the necessary emotional and mental reserves, act “at the same time” with life, and not in spite of it. | By accepting new circumstances, you thereby place trust in life. And, as you know, she often acts in our interests: by closing some doors, she opens others. It’s just that we very often hold on to the bird in our hand, not suspecting that fate has prepared for us the crane (for example, we are afraid of losing our job, for fear of facing financial problems). |
| Finding yourself in a difficult situation, any person, of course, experiences confusion of feelings. His main task is to maintain faith in himself and the ability to make reasonable decisions. And also, don’t let the energy of fear paralyze your consciousness. | Once you conquer fear, the situation will become clearer, and you will be able to take the most effective steps to minimize your losses with a cool head. Otherwise, they can become catastrophic. |
We must not lose sight of the fact that our fears are the most powerful magnets for making fears come true. Because they are driven by the strongest emotions, which are energetically capable of attracting unpleasant expectations and negative scenarios.
What psychologists say
The inability to abstract from unnerving factors and pull yourself together significantly spoils life. Psychologists recommend “switching.”
How to do it:
- Let go and trust the process if you can't change anything
. Let the Universe determine further events - you will “connect” when you see an opportune moment. Until it comes. Trust what is happening and take your mind off what you have no control over. - Apologize
. Stop self-flagellation. If you feel guilty, ask for forgiveness. Don't live with guilt and regrets. It is important to say “I’m sorry” in time. - Bad events are inevitable - accept the fact
. There are mean people, unfair things happen - there is no insurance against them. Everyone wants to avoid dark streaks, but this is impossible. Focus on the best and don't waste energy on the negative. - Believe in the best
. The end of the world has not come, the situation will level out, you will begin to treat it neutrally. I can’t believe it now, but it’s inevitable. Abstract yourself. Immerse yourself in pleasant moments and rituals. There are no such? Create! - Decide on the goal, discard the rest
. Are you going towards something but giving up due to failure? Don't waste time on these worries? Put aside negative emotions, perceive missteps as experience, without taking your eyes off the goal. - Admit it: life changes
. We grow out of past stories and enter new ones - the past does not guide us. Mentally we return to it, losing the present. Realize that there is no past. There is a present that influences the future. The most unproductive waste of time is to dwell in thoughts in the past, in what no longer exists.
Charge yourself with positive energy
Be sure to include regular sports in your schedule - running, swimming, rocking, cycling, skiing... It is important to get enough sleep regularly. Review your diet and remove everything that makes you weaker. At a minimum, cigarettes and large doses of alcohol. Take time to “sharpen the axe” - that is, to analyze what you have done and improve your personal effectiveness. Get out into nature regularly. Travel. More impressions and emotions - films, theaters, photography. Learn to think positively, perceiving all obstacles along the way as areas of growth (according to my observations, believers are much more positive than non-believers. In their picture of the world, if God gives trials, he always gives resources to overcome them).
How to start losing weight
This question worries many female representatives. There are various methods that promise to lose weight, but, as a rule, women fail already in the second week of exhausting diets. To pull yourself together and start losing weight, follow these recommendations:
- understand your desire to lose weight. Sometimes such a desire is overly hyped, imposed by fashion trends and trends.
- hold off on losing excess weight. You can’t just lose 10 kilograms in a week. In this situation, it is necessary to act measuredly, slowly, so as not to expose the body to unnecessary stress, which can trigger the opposite result.
- give up restrictions. As many psychologists have discovered, what we limit is what attracts us most. Therefore, restrictions lead to breakdowns that will definitely not allow you to pull yourself together. Don't completely give up on what brings you joy, but take it one step at a time.
Other phraseological units
Don't feed me bread
Describes a strong passion for a particular activity or subject.
Apple of discord
The cause of the dispute, minor disagreements leading to serious consequences.
Without a year a week
This is what they say about an event or matter that originated in the very recent past, but is developing too rapidly.
Seven Fridays a week
Impermanence and changeability of man.
All phraseological units
A book from the authors of this article!
Collection: “100 popular phraseological units of the Russian language”
More details
Palette of meanings
“Pull yourself together”: the meaning of the phraseological unit comes down to regaining control over oneself. Moreover, the expression is quite universal.
For example, some event happens to a person that unsettles him and throws him out of balance. But he can’t lose his head and get upset. And a person close to him (a distant person will not say this) says: “Well, pull yourself together, you shouldn’t become limp now.”
There is another possible meaning. Let's imagine a schoolchild or student who has seriously neglected his studies. And in order to rectify the situation, he should pull himself together (the meaning of the phraseological unit is discussed a little higher), that is, stop wasting time on nonsense, and gather all his strength and will into a fist and, as V.I. bequeathed. Lenin, study, study and study again. The student’s personal sense of self in this case does not play a special role, whether he considers himself a “nerd” or not, such a moment has simply come, such a time.
The two situations are completely different in their emotional poles: one is tragic, the other is neutral. But in both you need to maintain presence of mind and focus on the goal. Perhaps this is the main conclusion to which the expression “pull yourself together” leads us. The meaning of phraseology instructs a person to never lose control. A good recommendation, but not always feasible, unfortunately.
Morality
There are, of course, cases when a person must disregard caution and go to great lengths. But basically the lesson that phraseology teaches people is universal. The mind should control feelings not because it is better, but because, obeying feelings, a person does all sorts of things that he later greatly regrets. And if you keep your head cool and give yourself the trouble to think, you can avoid trouble, the main thing is not to make decisions rashly.
How to pull yourself together and find strength and confidence?
To get up and start acting, you need strength, to gather yourself, you need strength, to find strength, you need strength. The circle closes in a lack of energy, confidence and self-esteem fall, and the understanding of the need to act is knocking like a woodpecker on the next wall. The impetus for being able to do at least something so that you can then be saturated with energy can be the following recommendations, similar in their effect to resuscitating a battery with a toad. The methods are emergency and short-term, they will not work regularly and give you strength, but they can be used as a starting point when deadlines are running out.
When confidence and self-esteem decrease, when you feel bad, you have just been crushed by a steamroller of despair, and you need to pull yourself together and act, give yourself five to ten minutes in which to feel sorry for yourself. You can escalate the situation, cry, hug yourself, huddle in a corner, lie on the floor - complete space and maximum explosion, but only for the allotted time. Some of the energy has already been released, since there is no need to restrain that huge flow of emotions, and besides, you prevented its destructive effect from the inside. After such a surge, do something that will distract you from returning to the sad topic, but do not overload your brain and emotional sphere. Activities aimed at focusing on your physical sensations are well suited - take a contrast shower, walk barefoot, walk the streets, turning on your conscious presence, observing the smallest details of the world around you, let it turn from an accompanying background into an object of observation and interaction.
Helpful tips to calm down and come to your senses
Effective ways to pull yourself together and put your thoughts in order.
Breathing practices
Breathing has a huge impact on health and mood. Have you noticed that your breathing changes depending on your emotional state? To calm down, you need to take control of it. Do this - the tension will disappear or weaken. Perform the practices regularly, the nervous system will return to normal.
We practice deep breathing: your back is straight, your shoulders are straightened, you take a deep breath and exhale slowly (it should be longer than your inhalation). After exhaling, there is a short pause.
We use an element from yoga: the “kapalabhati” breathing technique. The emphasis is on exhalation. Study information on this and many other techniques - this will help calm the nervous system. You shouldn’t get carried away with practices if they are new – use them at especially peak moments.
Choose the “right” mood
To pull yourself together, you need the right attitude - without it, all methods are ineffective. Look at life philosophically, calm your nerves with simple but effective attitudes: “This too will pass,” “I’m letting go of the situation, let it be as it should,” “Everything will work out,” “I have a backup plan,” “I’m calm.”
Find in your mind the most suitable phrase that really helps you calm down. This certainly exists! Do you adhere to a certain belief system, philosophical views, religion?
It will be even easier to find the answers you need, here they are:
- Relax
. A good option: taking a bath, shower. Interacting with water will calm your nerves and get rid of negative energy. Put your thoughts in order - a warm shower helps with this (especially before bed). Wash away the hardships of the past day. Forget for a while about dousing and contrast showers - they have a stimulating effect on the nervous system. Accompany the procedure with aromatherapy and pleasant music - disconnect from everything and surrender to relaxation. - Create comfortable sleeping conditions
. It’s difficult to stay positive in an irritating environment. Take care of a comfortable place to sleep: soft twilight, fresh bed linen, comfortable sleepwear, a clean room, tea with herbs. Adequate rest will help keep your nerves in order.
- Don't forget to take care of yourself
. Do you feel a lack of strength, emotional burnout on the way? Forget about disturbing topics for a while, stop thinking about control for a while, focus solely on yourself. This is not about salons, restaurants or discos (although this is not prohibited), but about a psychological trick and a gift to the nervous system: allow yourself to forget about annoying questions for at least a few hours, switch.
Are the stresses on the nervous system too much? Is it increasingly difficult to cope with stress? A complete reboot is required! Find an opportunity to go on vacation or just relax for a week alone at the dacha, in an empty apartment, with your loved one. You need time to rethink life and current problems. It is possible that many difficulties are not worth solving - they can and should simply be excluded from your life.
