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.
How to start a new life
Many people want to radically change their lives. Get rid of routine, debts, introduce useful habits, make your desires come true. But the emotional state of impossibility suppresses any attempt to change anything. Let's figure out how to pull yourself together and start taking action:
- Develop willpower. Decide for yourself whether you want change and strengthen your willpower. Otherwise, if you cannot pull yourself together, you will not achieve your goals.
- Set the right goals. The easiest way to pull yourself together is to set a big goal and start moving towards it. If you have chosen the right goal for yourself, then you will definitely find the inner strength to act.
Origin of phraseology
Most idiomatic expressions in which the word “hand” is present are associated with activity (“work tirelessly,” “if you don’t stretch out your hand, you can’t get it from the shelf”), but among them there are also phraseological units that describe control over the situation. The expressions “completely out of control” and “pull yourself together” are just such idioms.
The metaphor is built on an objective image. When we pick up a thing, we can be sure that it will not go anywhere, we dispose of it as we see fit.
If we imagine that we perceive ourselves as certain objects, control over which must be exercised in stressful situations, the expression becomes quite understandable.
Originally Russian in origin, the phraseological unit has analogues in many languages, which proves the similarity in the way of thinking of people around the world.
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.
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.
How to gain confidence and strength
It’s quite easy to pull yourself together; a few simple tips will help you with this:
- Create an environment around yourself that you would like to be a part of. Give up people who drag you down, insult you, and don’t support you in anything. Surround yourself with like-minded people and those who inspire you, who motivate you to pull yourself together and move towards your goal.
- Use relaxation techniques. This will help you to properly rest and relax, which means your body will recover strength faster. This will help you quickly pull yourself together and get down to business.
- Be clear about where you are aiming. Visualize the end result of your actions every day. Understand what you are investing in your aspiration, why you should achieve this. When you are clearly aware of everything, it will be easier for you to pull yourself together.
- Give free rein to your feelings and emotions. But only at a specially designated time. Spend 5-10 minutes whining to free your body of negative energy that prevents you from pulling yourself together. This technique will help give additional strength in gaining confidence.
Other phraseological units
Sisyphus's work
Hard, meaningless and constantly repetitive work.
Without a king in my head
Stupid, reckless, irresponsible person.
Aesopian language
Allegory. Explanation in a figurative sense.
To make mountains out of molehills
Greatly exaggerate, exaggerate, worry too much about minor reasons.
All phraseological units
A book from the authors of this article!
Collection: “100 popular phraseological units of the Russian language”
More details
Dictionaries
GET YOURSELF IN HANDS.
PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. Razg. Express
1.
Overcoming your feelings, moods, achieve self-control.
2. GET YOURSELF IN HANDS.
Become collected and capable.
Achieve complete self-control, control over your feelings, emotions, mood.
The nominal part is unism.
The order of the component words is not fixed.
⊙ And why did you get so excited, really? You need to pull yourself together
and understand the original reason for my sudden panic.
V. Platov, The Devil's Font. Be that as it may, I had to pull myself together
. To inform Sir Shurf Longley-Lockley that I am afraid of heights... No really... M. Fry, Labyrinth (Stranger).
I urgently needed to pull myself together
, so <…> I turned away from both windows, closed my eyes, yawned and tried to get more comfortable on the hard seat. M. Fry, The Dark Side.
Few men pull themselves together and start taking care of their figure. <…> True, you will have to take yourself into
very stiff
hands
to artificially restrain your weight. MK, 2002.
⊛ Schwartz heard the ringing clap of a palm and shuddered <…>. But then I pulled myself together
and signaled to the [sobbing] secretary to be quiet. F. Neznansky, Siberian octopus.
Budakh's lips began to twitch, but he pulled himself together
. A. and B. Strugatsky, It’s hard to be a god.
But he will have to pull himself together
, restrain yourself, smile gratefully at this fool in love and not show your anger in any way. A. Marinina, When the gods laugh.
Raisky noticed that the general is not as bad as he seems, and if he breaks down, he immediately pulls himself together
. P. Dashkova, Cherub.
Few men pull themselves together
and begins to take care of her figure. <…> True, you will have to take yourself into very tough hands in order to artificially restrain your weight. MK, 2002.
- Tanya, you’re out of shape today! Your best scene on the balcony was played poorly! Come on, take it
- Pull
yourself together
. T. Okunevskaya, Tatiana's day.
- Well, take it into your hands
-
take yourself
! Is it really possible to freak out like that over some nonsense?! (Speech)
I cried, laughed and twitched at the same time. I tried to pull myself together
, tensed up, and suddenly something happened to me. My body lost weight, I soared to the ceiling and slowly floated above their heads. V. Voinovich, Moscow 2042.
The image underlying this phraseology is associated with the images reflected in the phraseology. IN HANDS 2. (see comment) and OWN YOURSELF (see comment).
pull yourself together
1. Restraining your feelings, exercise self-control, calm down. Go out/lose your temper. With noun with value faces: student, girl... pulls herself together; How? quickly, immediately... pull yourself together.
I’ll get down to business, gritting my teeth... fortunately, this is not the first time for me to pull myself together. (I. Turgenev.)
If you are angry about things, then know that everything is in you and you need to pull yourself together. (L. Tolstoy.)
She didn’t answer, trying to pull herself together and stop the trembling in her voice. (K. Simonov.)
I'm in a terrible state. You need to pull yourself together. (V. Nabokov.)
2. Become more focused, purposeful, and show willpower. With noun with value faces: student, teacher, boy... pulled himself together; should, must, must... pull yourself together.
If she had not been lazy and pulled herself together, she would have made a wonderful singer. (A. Chekhov.)
For example, I also didn’t study well, but then I pulled myself together and achieved what I wanted. (N. Nosov.)
(!) Do not mix with phraseological units, take into your hands, take into your own hands.
Source
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.
"Box" breathing
Mark Devine, former Navy SEAL commander, New York Times bestselling author of SEAL Leadership School, and founder of the SEALFIT SEALFIT training program, shared a couple of tricks that special forces use to quickly gain control of themselves in a stressful situation. . One of them is the so-called “box breathing”, or 4-4-4-4 breathing.
This is How To De‑Stress In 5 Minutes Or Less, According To A Navy SEAL the essence of this technique. When you feel nervous, you should imagine a box with four equal sides. Next, do this:
- Inhale slowly, imagining that you are moving up the side of the box, counting from one to four.
- Then hold your breath for another four counts and move along the top side of the box.
- Then exhale for a count of four and move down the other side.
- Finally, hold your breath again for four counts and walk along the underside of the box.
Repeat until you calm down - this will take about 5 minutes. This technique is taught to SEAL and Special Ops candidates as part of the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL and US Air Force Pararescue training programs. Ideally, this should be done while sitting or even lying down, but it can also be done standing - it all depends on the situation.
If you don't have the strength to hold your breath for 4 counts, you can shorten the pattern to 2-2-2-2 or 3-3-3-3. You can also use a 5-5-5-5 pattern if you wish, or a 6-6-6-6 pattern if you want to take even deeper breaths. "Long delays don't make sense unless you're a submarine hunter or a SEAL," Devine says.
By the way, special applications, such as BreathAir, will help you try “box” breathing. It is unlikely that Navy SEALs have the opportunity to use it directly on the battlefield. But in a peaceful situation it can be useful.
appbox fallback https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.orbitemobile.breathair&hl=ru&gl=ru
Step-by-step instructions on how to pull yourself together
| Steps | Description |
| Step 1. | State the problem you are facing as accurately as possible. |
| Step 2. | Analyze what specific emotions you are experiencing. Focus on how your body feels (stiffness? tension? powerlessness?) What thoughts dominate your mind? |
| Step 3. | Ask yourself this question: what is the worst thing that can happen in this situation? |
| Step 4. | What about the other way around? What is the best way to resolve this problem? |
| Step 5. | What seems to you the biggest problem in making your desire come true? What is your fear that prevents it from coming true? |
| Step 6. | What compelling counterarguments can you use to overcome your fears? Imagine that your task is to convince your loved one that this is possible (for example: I am good-looking, I have a high IQ, I know how to be convincing, I have enough charm, I have excellent intuition, I can handle it, etc.). . |
| Step 7 | Take a piece of paper and a pen. Write down your arguments as succinctly and convincingly as possible to make your wish come true. Translate all verbs from the future into the present (according to the model: I cope with the situation, I do the right thing, I have enough intuition, I believe in my strength, in my abilities, in my knowledge, etc.) Do not use the particle in your formulations and the preposition “not”, as well as other negatives. Thus, you transform your negative psycho-emotional attitudes into positive affirmations (short verbal formulas). |
| Step 8 | In the evening, half an hour before bed, and in the morning (half an hour after waking up), recite (read) these affirmations, imagining (visualizing) them as clearly as possible. At this time (between reality and sleep) contact with the subconscious is closest. Under the influence of this technique, your consciousness will be reformatted. |
If you do all of the above correctly, with maximum dedication and faith in a positive result, and also consistently back up your words with conscientious actions, the Universe will begin to cooperate with you and make your desires come true.
Once you overcome your fears, push them aside, making room for positive expectations and positive scenarios, you will change your destiny for the better. No one except ourselves can prevent us from being happy.
