When You Just Don't Give a *%!@%

Ever wake up and realize nothing really matters?  No matter what you do, things remain the same and you just can't seem to find any reason to get up?  Yeah, happens to me too.  Kind of a crappy way to start the day.

What's it all about?

The meaning of life, which is a great movie by Monty Python by the way, is undefinable.  The meaning of life is the meaning YOU put into it.  When you wake up, sigh, and think that the day is really gonna suck, that's the meaning you're putting into life.

How do you combat this?  Is there anything you can do to change it?

YES!

First step is to become AWARE that you've got a choice to make - that the meaning of life is totally up to you.  Now I know awareness is extremely difficult to come by when you're tired or cranky or have a ton of homework, but it is possible.  Try this next time you feel like crap:  ask yourself "Do I really WANT to feel this way?"

Now, that may trigger this whole internal debate that might go something like this:

"Do I really want to feel this way?"
"You don't have a choice, moron.  You've got three tests today, {fill in name here} hates you, your parents are idiots and you have no life.  How ELSE are you gonna feel?"

Tough argument, right?  Well, the internal voice knocking you around is what Eckhart Tolle calls the "ego".  Yeah, you've probably heard about it in Psych or something, but this isn't the Ego like the Id, Ego and SuperEgo, although you might be able to find some parallels.  No, this little bugger is an attention-needing whiny machine that lives in all of us.  It thrives when given attention.  You argue with it and the arguments grow louder and seem to make more sense.

In my book, Dealing with Dudes and Chicks, I explain how this is the mind working to prepare you for the worst case scenario.  But with awareness that you have a choice to make, you can either focus your energy on what the mind is prepping you for (which, when thinking about it as an EGO actually makes you feel somewhat good), or you can take control of the situation and respond to the "Do I really want to feel this way?" question with a resounding "NO!"

The most important thing to remember in all of this, though, is that the choice is entirely up to you.  YOU have that power.  You really do!