Yup! I get it…. So your life sucks at the moment…..
Been there, done that, on many occasions, as have many, many, many, other people.
Do you want to continue to feel stink because you think your life sucks, (walk away now)…
OR….. do you want to learn why you are feeling like this and, more importantly, how you can turn your life around so that it doesn’t suck anymore?
Then read on……
Why Does Life Suck So Bad Sometimes?
Our evolutionary brains are hardwired to pay attention to the bad stuff, the perceived threats, through Negative Bias.… It’s been a necessary mechanism that has allowed us to survive through the millennia. And although we no longer constantly face threats to our lives from our environment, our biological programming has not yet adapted to our modern world. Now, we essentially face very little danger and instead, have the potential to live awesome lives…. but only when our outdated ‘thinking’ catches up with modern reality.
There’s A ‘Big Picture’ And Then There’s ‘The Daily Struggle!’
I hear you say, yeah but….. Knowing that my genetic programming is hardwired to seek out the negative crap happening around me and bring it to my attention (almost just to prove to me how much my life sucks)…. THIS INFORMATION DOES NOT HELP ME!
I know that… but it is the big picture…. And it lets you know that you are not alone when you feel that your life sucks, and more importantly….. that there is actually nothing wrong with you for feeling like this!
Also, (some good news) the big picture, your negativity biased programming, can be changed…. Science has proven this! We can change our programming to become healthier, wealthier, happier, and wiser. But it does take time and effort. And, it’s a journey that YOU WILL eventually embark on, willingly or unwillingly…..
However, I digress…. back to here and now…… The Daily Struggle
Your daily life is something that you have more control over than you think. You can actively do many things to improve your life, every day, beginning now. But, it’s up to you how much you do. But know this… many small positive things done regularly will add up to a better life experience for you.
Does that sound good? Are you willing to do something NOW to allow yourself to feel better NOW?
OR, do you somehow feel that you are benefiting by indulging in self-pity?….
Take a moment to think about these questions because these may give you an insight as to why you have allowed your life to continue to suck instead of already having done something about it!
– Do you get more attention from others when you are ‘down in the dumps’ than when you are doing well? (Even negative attention is better than no attention, right?)
-Are negative emotions so familiar and so deeply ingrained in your psyche that you feel out of your comfort zone when experiencing anything else?
What Are Some Things You Can Do To Begin Feeling Better?
1) Understand that just because you think or believe something, it doesn’t mean it’s real!
Your thoughts are only perceptions based on what you have experienced throughout your life. And this means that everyone has different tolerances, ideas, beliefs, wants, desires and needs.
Think about this for a bit of perspective….. If you changed lives with someone from a 3rd world, war-torn country, would they consider that your life sucked? Or would they consider that your struggles are pretty insignificant compared to the issues they face every day?
I’m not trying to invalidate your reasons for why you think your life sucks, but it does help us if we can separate ourselves from our issues. Why…. Because our ‘issues/problems’ are not us! They are just things happening, or things we worry about, that we attach a negative bias to.
We could just begin telling a different story, a better story, about the issue and then we would have a different attitude towards it.
2) Change your brain state by doing something that enhances your well-being instead of feeling sorry for yourself.
Sitting around feeling sorry for yourself and complaining to others about how much your life sucks is a sure way to ensure the suckiness continues and gets worse. Why? Because what we focus our mental energies on, what we think about often, will persist and become more intense!
I could just tell you that if you change your thoughts to more positive thoughts, your mood will also improve accordingly. However, I know it can be really difficult to change our mental state when we are stuck in an endless loop of self-defeating and unappreciative thoughts.
Luckily, we have other options!
Our physical, mental, and emotional states are all interconnected and dependent on each other. Therefore, if we can’t easily change our negative thinking patterns, we can try other ways that will change our physical or emotional well-being. And this in turn will loop back and have a positive effect on our thoughts.
So, either change your physical state by:
– Turning your attention to some beneficial exercise….. (quickest and easiest solution.)
– Eat better quality foods that supply much-needed nutrients to your body’s cells. (change will be awesome, but accumulate slowly over time.)
– Change your location from the place where you are normally feeling down to somewhere brighter and happier. Take a walk in nature, feel the earth beneath your feet and practice being appreciative of all the wonderful attributes that Mother Nature supplies freely for our pleasure and enjoyment.
Be grateful that the air, sun, water, sand, trees, etc. are all provided free for our enjoyment. And they greatly enhance our well-being when we connect with them.
3) Remove emotional toxins from your life!
Low-quality friends can really suck your energy and they will leave you feeling drained and depressed. Refuse to hang out with people that bring you down…. Because you need to realize that the way you feel is something you can choose…. And when you understand this, you will come to know that THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE WAY YOU FEEL!
Cut out many of the hours spent on social media, watching dramas, and all the bad news on TV, etc. Not only is the crap content detrimental to your emotional health, but the physical aspects of looking at screens for hours on end are damaging you physically as well.
Take frequent breaks, get up and enjoy the sensation of stretching your body…. you know, your body, the vehicle you are using to experience this physical world…..
…… Your physical, mental, and emotional experience is going to improve significantly when you begin respecting your vehicle for experience more (that is YOUR BODY!)
4) Be honest with yourself about why your life sucks
Does your life really suck, or do you just not have enough interesting and exciting things happening in your life at this time?
I have to ask because we never say our lives suck when we are happily engaged in doing something that brings us satisfaction or pleasure, do we?
It’s a big, diverse, interesting, and ever-changing world out there……. And are you telling me, when we live in the most technically advanced and most prosperous time in all of human history, that you cannot find something to put a smile on your face?
As I said, it’s a big diverse world…. And there is something for everyone out there….. Maybe you just need to find it….. or as Sadhguru says (something like) “you can go in search of significance, or you can make every moment significant!”
This means that you don’t need to go anywhere or do anything differently, you just need to change your attitude about where you already are…. Why, because it is your thoughts that are creating the feelings you are having. And if you’re not feeling good, be a grown-up, accept responsibility, and CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS!
5) The Only Real Solution To Creating A Lasting Happy And Fulfilling Life Is:
Our dissatisfaction with life is most often because our desires, wants, and needs are not being realized to the degree we want. We may not have the job, relationship, car, house, dress, etc. we currently want, so we feel that our life sucks compared to others who have these things.
I get that! HOWEVER….. WE WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE TRUE SATISFACTION AND FULFILLMENT WHEN WE ARE SEARCHING FOR IT IN THE EXTERNAL WORLD OF ‘STUFF!’
Even people who have all these external things, the unlimited money, fame, and freedom to do as they please, can end up dissatisfied!
Why? Because our feelings of suckiness are an internal experience….yes, they are coming from within and are not dependent on the world around us……
Having said that, I do not deny that stuff in our external world definitely affects the way we are feeling at any given time. A baby’s first smile will melt anyone’s heart, winning the lottery will make us all jump for joy, and scoring an A on an important test…. Well, life can be awesome.
However, these things are temporary and are not occurring all the time…. they are ‘occasional’ things that lift our spirits.
And our dissatisfaction in this modern day and age, when we are no longer struggling just to survive, is brought about because we are relying on stuff outside of us to give meaning to our lives…… and it’s leaving us internally dissatisfied!
The deeper life questions are catching up with us…..
…… we are no longer satisfied with just accumulating stuff and having fleeting awesome experiences…..And our current societal structure can’t address this inconsistency.
We live in a society geared towards ‘economic growth’ where money is God!
…. and too little attention is given to our true eternal spiritual nature…. The aspect of OUR-SELF that is here to enjoy the experience of inhabiting a body in a physical reality……
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time you started exploring some of life’s bigger questions in the hope of finding a solution to why Your Life Sucks.
Happiness is a journey, and the journey is made up of all the moments along the way. Being happy in many small moments adds up to one hell of a great journey!
The Take Away to ‘Why Does Life Suck So Bad Sometimes’
When we think life sucks, it’s because ‘life’ is not delivering to us the experiences we are wanting. This means that the gap between our expectations of how life is supposed to be and the reality of how our life is, is greater than we are happy with.
And when our perception of how reality should be for us is not being met, we are naturally disappointed.
But…. Have you stopped to consider that maybe life is not meant to be any particular ‘way?’ After all, there are more than 7 billion of us, all with different ideas, wants, and needs…. Do you really think that ‘external reality’ can meet everyone’s expectations all at the same time?
Maybe life just is… and if you observe nature, you will understand that when adversity strikes, the natural world does not sit around feeling sorry for itself.
Instead, the plants, water, and animals just get on with things, finding a new path to match the new circumstances….. So, why should you or I be any different?
Your path to a better life is already available, waiting for you to realize it…..
It is simply this……
….. YOUR REALITY IS MADE UP OF THE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS YOU HAVE MOST OFTEN…..
……And if you choose to think of negative stuff often, you will get lost in the feeling that your life sucks!
A better way to begin looking at life is:
We, humanity, have never lived in a safer time than we do now. And, there is more prosperity on the planet now than there has ever been before, and the amount of wealth, beneficial technology, and knowledge are increasing every day!
What’s not to like about that?
…. Now get out there and do something to change your state of mind into a more beneficial attitude….. And you will begin living a more satisfying life when you realize that…..
