Hello, everyone. My name is Mark (pen name is Ed White) and I’d like to welcome you to my website, The Strongest Mind.
“Mental strength” is a topic that means a great deal to me for many reasons. It’s been a recurring theme in my life, since I was fairly young. While having some degree of physical strength is indeed important, mental strength will get you through some of the most difficult experiences you’re likely to encounter.
Like many youngsters today, I dealt with bullies and issues regarding acceptance among my peers. I grew up in a single-parent household and attended a Catholic school until the end of my 8th grade year. From there, I went to the nearest public school, since everyone I knew was going there.
From that point on, I grew up the way most of my peers did. My mom put me in martial arts when I was fairly young, but I soon lost interest in it and begun hanging out with the party crowd. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was pretty angry about how I was treated when I was younger. While I didn’t join a gang or go around starting fights, I did my share of drinking, which I suppose helped me to finally “fit in.”
Then came college and a slew of different careers. I had a restaurant job that I kept for several years, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself. My anger issues got worse at work and I was known for putting my fists through walls and breaking stuff (ashtrays, plates, etc…). Fortunately, I had a good enough upbringing that my conscience kept me from doing anything truly regrettable, or else I might have ended up in prison.
I’ve grown a lot, since those early days. I’ve since worked in the automotive industry (as a dealership technician), manufacturing and trucking. None of those worked out particularly well, although I learned a lot about others and also about myself. I attended different schools for each of those careers and racked up my share of student loan debt. Since giving freelance writing a shot, I haven’t bothered looking back.
Why did I create this site?
Honestly, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It’s a logical extension of my writing career, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I’ve chosen to create a blog about something so important to me. However, I’m not the only person who can benefit from discussing anything and everything that has to do with mental strength. I’m not the only person who was ever picked on as a child, struggled with anger issues, or switched careers several times. I also wasn’t the only young man to grow up without his father.
I’ve always felt that if I could ever use my skills for something beyond just making a buck, this would be the area where I could do the most good. For some reason, friends and acquaintances have long seen fit to confide in me and ask me for advice. While I don’t pretend to be as qualified as a professional therapist, I do like helping others to make sense of whatever is going on in their lives, especially if I’ve been through something similar.
The only thing I ask of you, as a reader, is to get involved with the site and share whatever is on your mind, as it pertains to the subjects at hand. If a post seems to speak to you in some way, I’d like to know about it. I enjoy discussing these matters and sharing experiences that everyone can get something from. Think of this site as a place you can come to help put things into perspective and remind yourself that whatever might be going on, it’s not the end of the world and you can come out of it stronger than you were going in.
Anyhow, take a look around the site and feel free to comment wherever you like. You can also shoot me a message through the contact page, if you prefer. I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
See you inside!
Mark