My dad would tell us that any difficulty was “all in the mind.”
When I and my siblings were kids and we found anything hard, he’d tell us it was “all in the mind.”
It could be whenever we’re sick, we’re stuck in homework, or we’re just not feeling like eating or drinking. He’d just say it was “all in the mind.”
That’s all he would say, and he would just walk away with a deadpan face. We’d just stare but eventually we’d hurdle whatever hardship was preoccupying us.
Once, when my dad, I, and my siblings were much older, we went on a trip abroad. While sightseeing at a tourist spot, my dad said he couldn’t walk another step and had to find a place to sit. That’s when we pounced and told him, “it’s all in the mind.”
He didn’t stop laughing.
My dad left a long time ago. But I tell myself whenever I feel reluctant to do something important, it must be all in my mind.
Ellery's Essays 