What to Write When Nothing is Going Right
Write what's troubling you, what's on your mind. That is worth reading as well.
Sometimes, the wind is blowing against you and you have to run on the treadmill anyway. Nothing is going quite right, but with all your might, you have to grip tight the ropes that can save you.
You don’t feel like doing anything—eating, sleeping, much less writing. There comes a time when you have to be resilient, face adversity, and come out of it stronger.
What do you do then?
What can you do then?
Only two things come to my mind:
Just survive
Focus only on your survival. Forget about losing weight, getting in shape, making the world great, spreading love and shushing hate. Forget all of it.
Just focus on one thing: go to work, get the work done, come back, and sleep. Repeat.
There will come a time when you can even thrive. But for now, just survive.
Let this song ring in the background of your mind, knowing that your time to thrive will come.
Row against
The tide is going one way, but you choose to go the other.
You refuse to submit. You refuse to bend. You say, “I am strong. I’ve got this!”
You focus on your paddle and canoe; you don’t care about the current’s intensity or its direction.
Face adversity and rise above.
Which is the better way
No one can answer this question better than you.
I am not of the latter kind most of the time,I prefer to flow with the wind and the tide.
Everyone is unique, so everyone’s answer will also be a unique variant of the two umbrellas above.
Most importantly, our answer should—must, in fact—change with changing circumstances and times. Why remain chained to one philosophy in life?
Right now, at this juncture in life, I prefer to just survive. I don’t have enough gas in the tank to throttle. Moreover, the environment around me is not conducive to my receptive, creative antennas. So these days, no poetry is flowing.
Few questions/inquiries
- When life feels this heavy, do you need to row harder; or quietly give yourself permission to just survive for a while?
- In past storms, which mode saved you more: gripping the rope and enduring, or rowing against the tide; and what did each one cost you?
- If your philosophy of “how to face hardship” could change with each season of life, what season are you in right now; and what would a kinder response to yourself look like here?
