When Mental Health Looks Like a Circus Act

Life Is a Full-Contact Sport

Life will hit you hard. Challenges, setbacks, and unexpected blows are unavoidable. The real question is: how do you stay on your feet when they come?

I once saw a video of Alvin Kamara (a professional football player) doing the weirdest drill. He stood on one leg, balanced on a half-inflated exercise ball, while his trainer tossed him these multi-pointed sticks. Each one had colored arms, and the trainer would shout, “Blue!” or “Red!” or “White” as he threw it. Alvin had to catch the stick by the correct color—still on one leg, still on that wobbly ball.

At first glance, it looked ridiculous, like a circus act about to go wrong. But it wasn’t entertainment; it was training. He was preparing his body to recover balance after getting blasted by a 230-pound monster running at top speed.

The difference between success and failure is whether you can stay upright long enough to keep running.

That drill wasn’t about avoiding collisions; it was about learning how to respond when they happen. And that’s exactly what mental health is like. You can’t avoid trouble. You can’t avoid pain. But you can train your mind and spirit (and brain) to respond in a way that keeps you moving forward.

Science Confirms Scripture

In 1921, Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman began a study of 1,500 gifted children. Researchers followed them through wars, careers, families, health crises, and aging, asking: What factors predict a long, healthy life?

The surprising conclusion: it wasn’t intelligence or physical strength. The strongest predictor of longevity was conscientiousness—the ability to plan ahead, live thoughtfully, exercise self-control, and resist harmful impulses.

Nearly 3,000 years earlier, the Bible had already said the same thing:

• “By wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.” (Proverbs 9:11)

• “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)

There are tons of other verses. Science is only catching up to what Scripture has always declared: self-control, wisdom, and discipline literally add years to your life.

Training the Mind

So how do we build conscientiousness? Much like that football player, it requires intentional training. He had to practice hearing his coach call out “Blue!” or “Red!” and react correctly even while balancing precariously on that ball… on one leg.

That’s how it works for us spiritually. Daily Bible reading and prayer tune our ears to hear God’s voice. Scripture trains us to respond the right way when life throws something unexpected.

Paul wrote:

Life will throw some tricky situations at you, but if you’ve been training to hear, “Truth!” or “Honor!” or “Purity!”, you’ll have a better chance at recovering and rebounding.

Romans 12:2 adds:

That’s agility training for the soul. God reshapes our thinking so our reflexes shift from immaturity, fear, anger, or despair to faith, patience, and resilience.

Practical Ways to Build Conscientiousness

What can you do to protect your mental health and prepare you for the hits of life’s full-contact sport?

1. Wrap Your Head in Bubble-wrap.

   Just kidding. Don’t be weird.

2. Be Very Careful About What You Allow In.

   Your mind is like soil. Whatever seeds you plant will grow. You can’t fill your mind with garbage and expect a harvest of peace. Choose Scripture, prayer, worship, and uplifting conversations.

3. Practice Saying “No.”
   Every time you resist an unhealthy impulse—whether it’s blurting out angry words, buying something you don’t need, or indulging temptation—you strengthen your “mental brakes.”

   This is developing your prefrontal cortex (what Dr. Daniel Amen calls it your CEO).

4. Build Preventive Habits.
   Just as preventive medicine keeps the body strong, habits like daily prayer, Bible reading, and community keep your mind resilient. Showing up when you said you would—even just for yourself—builds trust and stability.

5. Submit to the Spirit.
   Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s not about gritting your teeth—it’s about walking closely with God, letting His Spirit empower what discipline alone cannot accomplish.

Small Choices, Long-Term Rewards

The good news is that conscientiousness isn’t built on one big heroic act. Although some people would prefer that. Sometimes it’s easier to do one hard thing instead of being consistent over time.

It’s built on small daily choices:

• Choosing prayer over more sleep.

• Choosing silence over angry words.

• Talking to the person in front of you instead of your imaginary friends, I mean social media friends.

• Physical exercise instead of endlessly scrolling.

Each small choice is like a deposit into your longevity account. Over time, those deposits add up to resilience, stability, and strength.

That’s what the Stanford study proved. That’s what Dr. Daniel Amen sees in brain scans. And that’s what Scripture has taught all along:

Conclusion

Life will hit you hard. But you can train to stay on your feet. Build conscientiousness by filling your mind with God’s Word, practicing self-control, and submitting daily to His Spirit.

That football drill may have looked like a circus act: catching colored sticks on one leg while wobbling on a ball, but the principle is powerful. The goal isn’t to avoid getting hit. It’s to be prepared so that when you do, you can stay on your feet.

Scripture and science agree: wisdom, discipline, and self-control not only bring peace to your soul, they also add years to your life.