Should you give up on life?

It’s quite possible that shutting down, avoiding, and dissociation are what got you to the point you’re at now, and if so, ask yourself this:

Have any of those behaviors given you any happiness?

Let’s assume the answer is no. And that’s because in order to really live, you have to experience life in all its moments. Once you’ve got in to the habit of shutting down, it’s nigh impossible to come alive when life is good. You’ve set your default switch to barely present.

How can you possibly enjoy life when you’re living in a nonexistent state?

My suggestion is to learn how to actually live by doing some or all of the following things each day:

  • Be fully aware in every moment.
  • Be willing to process fear or pain in every moment it arises.
  • Quit anything that stops you from feeling—alcohol, weed, TV shows—anything that pulls you out of having to interact with life.
  • Make a point of being thankful for every single little thing of beauty—a cloud, laughter, a warm bed, hot food.
  • See other people’s hearts rather than their facial and physical reactions.
  • See your own heart rather than your facial and physical reactions and start enjoying your unique way of being you.
  • Thank people all the time—phone support people, cashiers, friends, family. Tell people they’re amazing when they help. Thank them when they’re kind. Point out every good thing you see in them.

When you’ve done that for a few months, you’ll find that your new perspective will have changed your life rather than allowing what you see of life to change you. And that’s when you get to truly start living.

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