We were lucky to catch up with Krystal Mayse recently and have shared our conversation below.
Krystal, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience has been developed, refined, and shaped over the course of my unique life journey. At my core, I have hope, faith, and a belief that it is good in everyone and everything. I have encountered many challenges in life that would have caused others to crumble or give up, but because of my faith and hope, I made the choice to dig deep and keep pushing. One of my life experiences that many will be able to relate to is my struggle and journey with depression and anxiety. Many years of my life were dimmed by the grip that depression had on me and at my lowest point, I debated ending it all. At that point, I felt that there was not any hope or any way out. I felt that the climb up was impossible and that it was easier to stop the pain that overshadowed my life and would be best relieved by not existing. It was a dark and lonely place and one of the scariest places that I have ever been. As I wrote my goodbye letter and the reality of the severity of my thoughts sank in, I had a divine moment of clarity and decided to seek help. That was the start of my journey of depression and it wasn’t until ten years later that I decided to fully accept the diagnosis and actively work towards getting my depression in remission.
Throughout that journey, I developed resilience by developing self-awareness, self-compassion, and practicing radical self-love. Being adaptable and realizing that my life’s journey has a purpose has inspired me to be vulnerable and share my unique life with others.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am Krystal and I am the founder of Uniquely Noble. Uniquely Noble started as a blog in 2010 as a place for me to share my life and inspire others with nuggets of wisdom that I gained throughout my life. For as long as I can remember I have loved to write and had the desire to help others. In 2019, I decided to expand the vision of Uniquely Noble to more than a blog and create workshops, retreats, events, and content to promote and inspire others to practice self-love and the importance of mental health.
I have endured several challenges and obstacles that caused me pain and discomfort and I made the conscious decision to allow myself to get uncomfortably vulnerable with others. I believe that when others feel seen in your story that it creates connection and community, which fosters an environment for healing and hope for the greater good of everyone involved.
Specifics of the journey of my life will be released this spring with my podcast, Unique Conversations with Krys, and I will go in-depth about my journey with my depression, my childhood traumas, and obstacles that I have overcome like infertility, miscarriage, and the importance of loving yourself.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The first skill that I will suggest is practicing radical and authentic self-love. Although the skill may sound cliche, true self-love looks like acceptance and boundaries and it is far more than reciting affirmations. It is being vulnerable and learning to love yourself deeply and intimately. It looks like embracing your uniqueness and leaning in on that. It sets the foundation for your core principles in life and indicates and informs all major decisions in your life like diet, exercise, relationships, and finances.
Secondly, I would suggest developing empathy. Empathy allows us to view ourselves and others with more compassion. Empathy can be the catalyst for change that can impact and leave a positive imprint on others around us. Allowing ourselves to walk in someone else’s shoes can help us lead with love and have tough conversations and have more compassion for ourselves and others.
Finally, resilience. Resilience is what helps us to be strong, it allows us to keep going especially when things are tough. It allows us to withstand and gives us the capacity to endure life and life’s challenges. Sure, it can make you strong, but strength can only carry you so far, endurance and resilience are necessary to sustain and carry you through the longest and toughest challenges in life.
For anyone starting in their journey, having self-love will help you understand your boundaries and will shape your core values. This is important when you will inevitably feel doubt, fear, or anxiety especially when you subject yourself to being vulnerable by sharing yourself, your idea, or living life in general. Knowing and loving who you are will make it easier not to succumb to the opinions of others and stay true to who you are authentically. Empathy will help you position yourself to have compassion for yourself and have the willingness to serve others. And resilience will fuel your strength and give you the willingness to keep going when things get tough.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
When I feel overwhelmed, I take a moment to be mindful and check in with myself and express the emotions that I am feeling as a result of being overwhelmed. This can look like practicing mindfulness or taking a moment to journal and write about what I am feeling. I do my best to work to get to the core of my emotion by asking myself “why?”. For instance, if I am overwhelmed with a project I am working on, I will likely start the exercise by stating that I am overwhelmed with the amount of work that I have on my plate, and by the end of the exercise of asking myself why until I get that I am overwhelmed because I am afraid that I won’t have the skills to complete the job successfully, which makes me feel overwhelmed. I will then practice a few techniques that I have learned from cognitive behavioral therapy to help me face the thoughts and emotions that triggered me to feel overwhelmed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.uniquelynoble.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uniquelynoble/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniquelyNoble/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/uniquelynoble
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb7bZinfb1BXlHmsZ02wMzA
Image Credits
Angel Ogamba Photo
