…And the word is panic!

Posted by Andrew_Cox

I was sitting in my apartment the other night, bored, waiting to go to bed and repeat the next day just like the previous one when it hit me: panic. All of a sudden I started thinking about how my own behavior was sealing my future of unhappiness. If I don’t start achieving some measurable progress towards my goals, I am just going to suffocate in my stagnation. What type of dedication and commitment does it take to ignore all the distractions and focus on doing something every day that brings me at least one step closer to the future I envision for myself? If I can’t motivate myself then am I pursuing the wrong things? Shouldn’t I be willing to put in any amount of work if the end goal, or the work itself, stimulates and excites me? There is a huge difference in terms of freedom and creativity working on something you love ten to fifteen hours a day than spending eight hours a day feeling trapped, stifled, and under-utilized. I accelerated my panic by thinking about panicking. Had I wasted my time, energy, and money chasing unrealistic or ill-suited goals? I felt lost, and I have plans for myself. I know many people who are wandering without a clue as to who they are or how they want to spend their time. It reminds me of something the Dali Lama once said:

“It is fascinating. In the West, you have bigger homes, yet smaller
families; you have endless conveniences — yet you never seem to have
any time. You can travel anywhere in the world, yet you don’t bother to
cross the road to meet your neighbors. I don’t think people have become
more selfish, but their lives have become easier and that has spoilt
them. They have less resilience, they expect more, they constantly
compare themselves to others and they have too much choice — which
brings no real freedom.”

That last line really sticks in my mind. Too much choice makes no choice at all. I’ve been told I can do whatever I want since I was a little kid. But I don’t know what I want to do because I can do anything…supposedly. It’s harsh to discover that you can’t always do anything. It seems like life has a great talent for getting in the way of your hard work and plans. This sentiment led a friend of mine into a long and disastrous bout with depression and anger. After he discovered that despite all his best intentions, he wasn’t able to achieve his life-long goal, he gave up on everything. He dumped his fiancée, he quit his job, he pushed away his friends, and he eventually tried to kill himself. It took years for him to change his outlook and start to recover.

How do you cope with stress everyday? How do you keep yourself focused on what you care about? Why does it seem like our own mind conspires against us? How did you achieve your goals or what did you do in the process to ensure you will achieve your goals? Post your thoughts in the comments.