Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
If Your life seems like shit to You, then pay attention to the word “seems”.
Because it’s in Your perception of things where Your life looks like shit.
This just means You thought things should be different.
Or in other words, You wanted to be somewhere else or someone else.
The pain of seeing the shittiness will give You the indication that You need to shift something or do something differently.
Your mind might go into the place of thinking You are a piece of shit or worthless. But this not actually the case.
There is just a discrepancy between Your thoughts about where You are and where You want to be.
It now becomes a matter of working on thinning the gap between the two.
And all of a sudden, You are where You want to be.
But beware! This does not stop suffering.
Because a new desire will be born.
Sometimes even before reaching that goal or “promised land”.
And at times, what You thought that end goal would be like, is much different than what it actually is.
Again, there’s a discrepancy between Your thoughts and reality.
And again it’s Your job to work on that gap.
To thrust Yourself into the reality of what’s actually happening.
That will immediately bridge that gap and alleviate Your suffering.
It will bring You freedom until the next time You think something and the reality is something else entirely.
In many ways, this is the soul’s journey of understanding reality and how our minds work.
To grow up and mature in the pain of our own suffering.
So that in the distant future, when You are wise and grey, You have at least an idea that things aren’t always as they seem like.
And sometimes the greatest joy and happiness, come from unfamiliar sources.
Places where we could not even believe.
A practice of healthy detachment is necessary.
Meaning, You will have a desire and You will take action. This is good, this is how life should be.
But do Your best to not have ideas on how it will look or feel like.
It is usually very different from reality.
And Your naïveté will get tested strongly.
One of the best examples of this is being in a long term relationship. A romantic one.
We all have ideas on how they should be and feel like.
Most often than not, they are different.
It doesn’t mean that they are bad, no.
They usually make us grow in rather painful ways.
The human mind will say that this is not good for You because You wanted something else.
But in reality, the opposite might be true.
The learning that You are doing within that relationship, will support You in ways You cannot imagine. In this life or the next. In this relationship or the next.
The point of this is to show You that things aren’t always as they seem like. But that doesn’t mean they are wrong or bad for You.
Most probably, they are supporting Your soul growth in magnificent ways.
Ian Altosaar
