You’ll feel alive again
Even if it doesn't feel like it.
Life has felt so cruel lately.
And it's not just me. When I look at the world, I can't help but wonder why. If you're one of those who are emotionally hypersensitive, you're not alone.
If there’s anything life has taught me, it's that no matter what happens, you have to keep moving.
Yes, you’ll feel it all, sit with your emotions, grieve, heal, but at some point, you have to dust yourself up, lock in, and go again. That's also what makes it all crazy.
Last month was #MensMentalHealthMonth, and I had lots of conversations with men. For most, there's no alternative but to suck it up and be a man—shove the feelings, and keep hustling until you make it and stay at the top.
I get it. You don't have to cry or grieve forever because at some point, you have to move on as life moves on itself. You can't dwell on what you don't have forever.
However, this practice of quickly adapting so you can use new things (feelings, goals, or wealth) to replace your current reality is a slippery slope.
If you choose to adapt to life and adversity and put your guard up to protect yourself and try to avoid pain, you will do just that - Avoid it (to an extent), but then, you’re also signing up to avoid the other end of the spectrum - true authentic joy. It’s a package deal. You either get both or neither. - Sel.
There needs to be a healthy balance.
Earlier this morning, news hit the world that the footballer Diogo Jota and his brother, André, died in a car fire. He was 28, got married 5 days ago, and leaves behind 3 kids who are yet to understand why their mum is inconsolable a few days after the most exciting day of their lives.
It made me reflect on recent personal events and how one could be grateful for waking up to a new day, having a job to pay bills, and the ability to touch lives in some way, yet still feel dead inside.
Honestly, it doesn't feel great. Far from it, but maybe it's not the end yet until it all ends.
Maybe you won't experience the exact form of happiness that made you feel alive, but you'll encounter something else, something new, that doesn't have to replace that feeling, but will have you feeling alive again.
Maybe it's okay to be a memory, as long as it's a good one. One you'll forever be grateful for experiencing.
And maybe you don't have to hold on to every loss or failure forever, but remember them with a grateful heart that you are lucky to know what it’s like to truly feel alive.
If you're feeling defeated, lost, or unsure about what comes next for you, you're not alone.
Remember this: your world doesn't end when you fall.
And even if you no longer have your happy place, remember that what’s empty can be filled, but choose what you fill it with.
It's not too late to feel alive again. 🫂
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Siri’s comment (mistakenly deleted) 👇🏼
You and Sel nailed it in these passages below.
"However, this practice of quickly adapting so you can use new things (feelings, goals, or wealth) to replace your current reality is a slippery slope." - Sprenko
"If you choose to adapt to life and adversity and put your guard up to protect yourself and try to avoid pain, you will do just that - Avoid it (to an extent), but then, you’re also signing up to avoid the other end of the spectrum - true authentic joy. It’s a package deal. You either get both or neither." - Sel
I agree with both, however, when the pain, anger or anguish of not adapting is greater than the joys you are experiencing now, the only path forward is to numb or turn down the volume on your emotions as a means of protection.
Carl Jung said and Sel's comment suggests, "No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell." This applies to emotions...and for now, I would love to be earthbound and not have to experience hell...or heaven.
I have resigned myself to working as hard as possible to not have the mental or emotional capacity left to worry about anything else.