Do you ever have those days when you just feel like giving up? Like exoneration has lost its eraser: backed into the wall with nowhere to run to and riddled with too much fear to contemplate your next move?
I find myself in that desolate place sometimes: it’s the space I have been in over the last couple of days.
In these times I avoid my friends and isolate myself - effectively creating a whirlpool of sadness for me to spiral down into.
My own bitter form of refuge is sleep. Its like no amount of sleep would be sufficient to address my overwhelming emotional tiredness.
Having scaled these barren walls umpteen times over my life, I have come to identify the feeling as that of hopelessness.
One of the most important lessons I have ever learnt is this; not everything my mind tells me, is true.
I know how hard it is to move out of this space, but I have come to understand that the first step is to make the decision to doubt my hopelessness. Simply entertain the notion that I could be wrong. I've been wrong before; maybe I am wrong now.
And then, with that inkling of doubt, I decide to act against my hopelessness.
The second step is to acknowledge you are telling yourself that the thing that won't change is essential: "I can't live without it."
Why not? I lived before I had it. If the job or friend or position really turned out to be hopeless, weren't we living a life before it?
For each self-defeating thought that pops up (“I can’t do this!” and so on), visualize a large, red stop sign in your mind and think, “Stop.”
Try to drop the rest of the thought. This takes practice, because those thoughts have a lot of “psychic inertia” and that’s why they need a “Stop Sign.” Use it liberally.
Doubt hopelessness.
Just for today.
