The idea that suffering is optional.
Many assume it’s inherently bad.
It’s actually required work.
Optimism layered over suffering leads to these realizations.
When you suffer and can’t find the light, that’s where nihilism comes in—
“When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.”
It’s what you do with the suffering. You need suffering, but you don’t want to be consumed by it.
People think “accepting” suffering means consuming it, but embracing it means using it.
Becoming the light in the shadows of suffering—that’s embracing.
Without darkness, there’s no need for light—rather, the light gets dimmer.
So, you need the darkness for the light to illuminate better. That’s antifragile! In constraint, there’s creativity.
Is depression something to be embraced?
But then I’m like, what do I mean here, brother?
And then I’m like, okay, these are my values: wealth, peace, health.
But wait—the opposite of a depressing life isn’t a peaceful life.
In fact, both depression and peace can coexist.
The opposite of peace is resentment and regret.
Which then I’m like, what’s the opposite of depression?
Then I’m like, it’s happiness.
And then I’m like, we don’t need happiness—it’s temporary.
Which also means depression is temporary.
It’s a state.
Which then I’m like, I don’t need to fix this—live it.
Like how we live the moment for happiness, live the moment of depression.
Which then I’m like, we’re so fixated on changing our state, when that’s not the point of being depressed in the first place.
Depression is not the enemy. That’s it.
It’s something useful and powerful.
I think you can achieve certain things that can’t be achieved when you’re not in a somewhat “depressing” state.
Like, that’s where creativity is.
That’s where you make life-changing decisions.
That’s where you decide to improve.
That’s where you begin to be more mindful and deeply connected to your inner self.
That’s where your inner self is trying to reach you, and you need that.
I think the biggest problem is that we’re not capable of understanding and comprehending its essence, which we then attribute to the negative.
That’s why positive thinking and reframing somewhat work and don’t work—because they mitigate the byproduct of this.
They’re a coping tool for people who can’t do this.
For those who feel there’s something deeper than just trying to be positive, positive thinking and reframing seem like superficial ways of understanding life’s essence.
But the essence wasn’t meant to be managed; it was meant to be embraced.
It’s a part of us that was meant to be positioned and placed in the right setting.
What is it trying to tell me here?
What have I overlooked?
What have I been ignoring?
What have I been rejecting?
What have I been denying?
These questions also contain the antithesis of the essence.
What am I focusing on too much?
What am I caring about too much?
What am I trying to force upon myself?
The misalignment of these essences is what’s causing the chaos. Triggering the distortion causing the state of depression.