#1
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.”
- Leo Tolstoy
This quote is so important.
Now, more than ever, people are feeling overwhelmingly depressed and anxious, while simultaneously trying to change the world. In essence, they are asking the world to grow while they sit by and watch, hoping for that one thing that motivates everything that we do: a good feeling.
Whether you’re going for a run, downing a fifth of Jack Daniels, or venting your political frustrations on Facebook. All of these things are being done so that, maybe, we feel a little bit better.
The problem is, we want those feelings to stick. So, actually, we’re not just looking for a feeling but a feeling that lasts. When feelings last, we experience them as a good mood, as confidence, as a feeling of high self esteem, as optimism; all of those pop-psychology buzz words that everyone seems to be looking for, or complaining that they don’t have.
Unfortunately too many of us experience our feelings like emotional cotton candy. Super yummy in the moment, then it quickly dissolves and we want more.
There is a way, though, to get those good feelings that have a longer half-life. How? In a word: growth.
Just about anything that you engage in that causes you to grow will deliver feelings that last way longer than the time it takes you to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.
Change yourself, force growth upon yourself and watch those feelings you’ve been searching for stick around for a while. And when it works let me know. I’ll toast to you with a little bit of that Jack Daniels.
- Josh
➤ Where to Start: On Mountain Lions and Medicine
