There will be days where the only thing you can feel is nothing. What was once human is now merely an empty shell. Sometimes the emptiness finds you for absolutely no reason at all. And sometimes, the emptiness finds you because everything you have ever experienced up until this moment, has led you here. You may sit there and wonder, “why am I alive?” Then the next thing you might do after questioning why you exist is take a deep breath or cry or lash out on someone you love. Or maybe none of the above and that’s why I would like to pause and deepen with you.
What do you find meaningful in life?
How can we grow from what we are going through?
Like you, I feel alone. I feel like no one cares whether I succeed or fail. I feel like no matter how hard I try, I will not amount to much. I feel like the love I give is rarely reciprocated. I feel lost. I feel like I do not belong. I feel underappreciated and undervalued. I feel overwhelmed yet the end of the day, all of these are just feelings.
They are fleeting and temporary and I recognize that I’m not meant to hold on to these self-limiting beliefs for long. They hold me back from stepping into my power. Yet at the same time, they push my back into feeling empowered. It’s one of those profound paradoxes that encapsulate the human condition. This concept reminds of this Eckhart Tolle quote I once read that goes,
“If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you as a human being, no humility, no compassion. You would not be reading this now. Suffering cracks open the shell of ego, and then comes a point when it has served its purpose. Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.”
Anywho, if you’re reading this and you’re struggling, then I hope you take a second to reflect. Take a deep breath and acknowledge that what you’re going through right now is real and has meaning. There’s some collateral beauty to be found in the pain, grief, turmoil or whatever familiar form of suffering you are experiencing right now. You are human and human beings are resilient. I have faith that you will get through this so keep going. Keep finding things that bring you joy. Keep creating the courage you need to reach out for support. Keep loving others the way that you would like to be loved. And lastly, keep being yourself. You got this. One step, one minute, one day at a time.
-sm