Every day we need to do things as ways to feel good, even if we don’t feel bad.
It’s like having an existential insurance policy.
Instead of waiting until we are sad and lonely and in need, we get out in front of the hopelessness and nip it in the bud. We continuously contribute to our personal savings account of meaning. Trusting that the funds will be available whenever we need to make a withdrawal, but also knowing that they will not evaporate if we choose not to.
Hindu mystics call this process digging our well before we are thirsty. But it’s more than just a spiritual platitude. It’s a daily practice for routinizing our existential savings.
Each morning, for example, we make choices to do things during the day that are guaranteed to provide us with good feelings. Even if we don’t necessarily feel bad right now, or plan on feeling bad later. Because that’s not the point.
Existential insurance is about making meaning, not monitoring moods. It’s a decision, not a discovery. A daily practice like anything else.
And so, sitting around trying to gauge how happy or sad or lonely we are, is not a prudent use of our time. Going for a walk in the park because we know that it will help us feel energized and connected to nature, is.
Waiting until despair darkens our doorstep and grabs hold of our hearts, only to then drown our sorrows in whippets, is not a healthy strategy. Calling up five friends we have not spoken to in months and sharing our feelings, is.
Grab a shovel. Sink your hands into the hard earth. Let the rains fall as they will.
And trust the process of digging your well to quench your thirst.
LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you doing things as ways to feel good, even if you don’t feel bad?
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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.
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