It’s Not that Deep
I know the score here.
I don’t have you long.
Probably lucky to have your attention.
If I’m lucky, I have you for 30 seconds.
So here’s a TLDR (too-long-didn’t read) for my thoughts today:
- It’s actually ok to be lazy, and to do nothing sometimes.
- No one is judging you. You aren’t that important - trust me :)
- Everyone is in one big rat race running after a huge unknown. Knowing that, why still feel FOMO?
- Don’t force anything. Go when you are ready.
- The universe gives you what it can when you are ready.
If you have read this far, I respect your focus and welcome you to read longer where I’ll talk a little more and explore each.
It’s actually ok to be lazy and to do nothing sometimes.
I'm fed up of the mainstream media telling us off for indulgence aka. dopamine and “binging”. Making us feel bad for the rut we are in, watching their aspirational youtube channel in our beds at 3am.
Hate to break it to you, those influencers you follow, don't care about you. They care about their subscription count, thumbnails, their path to world domination.
Your friends, family, remember them? That's who matters. Never feel ashamed or that you should sacrifice your quality time. Modern society makes us feel that way, absolutely crazy.
Crashing on a sofa, binging Netflix, stuffing your face with ice cream. Nothing wrong with that. You’ve got one life - enjoy it.
No one is judging you.
I’ve never told anyone what goes on in my counselling sessions, but I remember I would always arrive at the topic of feeling a “pressure”. An unexplainable “pressure”. Over time, my counsellor and I understood the cause to be my fear of judgement by others and my position in the world. Does that feeling feel familiar to you?
I believe the Covid period made us all more inward-thinking and insular. Most of us walk around assuming everyone is judging everyone. In reality, everyone is thinking of themselves and has no time to judge. They may judge from initial impressions and curiosity, but honestly it’s never that “deep”.
Everyone is in one big rat race running after a huge unknown.
Take it from someone who has lived in London from birth, I know I have lived the confines of my life (so far) in a rat race.
- School till 18, check.
- University, check.
- First corporate job, check.
- Incremental salary and taxes, check.
- House with mortgage, maybe…
Once you see it, you can’t un-see it. Ironically, for something most of us are going after, not many can tell you why they are.
Who said that’s where success and fulfilment is?
I lost all sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) once I saw the ‘rat race’ for what it is. So, slow down, I doubt you are missing much.
Don’t force anything, go when you are ready
Procrastination is this era’s scapegoat. The ultra-productivity trend picks on procrastination, making us feel like failures for a perfectly human and natural behaviour. Let’s respect procrastination as a means of assessing a situation, handling fear, and building courage.
Isn’t it completely normal to take a little longer to complete something harder and more difficult? If you enjoy doing hard things, I worry about you, go outside more :)
The universe gives you what it can when you are ready
Let’s end on a positive note. The universe has got your back. No, the universe doesn’t hate you through the misfortunes you experience. It also delivers fortune, it’s just the ratio is skewed. There are fewer fortunes but larger and more meaningful. They come in different guises: opportunities, chance encounters, random thoughts.
Above all, you need to be ready when they present themselves. So, without shame, binge Netflix, enjoy food, and when you are ready, take the steps to accept what the universe offers you. You are in charge of your life.
There are no rules.
I’m fairly new to Medium and looking to build a genuine, unfiltered community to exchange teachings and ideas, hear different stories and perspectives. Let’s connect and leave a comment to start a discussion :)
