“Build a life that you don’t need to escape from.”
Ryan Holiday
At the end of a long workday, how do you unwind? When there is stress in your life, how do you find relief? Do you dread waking up and going to work?
When I first read the quote from Ryan Holiday, it almost felt like it was meant for those who are well-off. You know, people who have the luxury and time to do whatever they want. People who don’t have to wake up every day to try and eke out a living.
Sure, those people might have the luxury to do whatever they want but there are plenty of wealthy people who are miserable so what does this quote mean?
Holiday goes on to say that when you feel the urge to escape life, you need to tune in. Tune in to yourself. Instead of looking for some external source to numb the pain, you need to look internally to find the source of your pain and face it head-on.
Mindless scrolling, porn, gambling, alcohol, video games, food, all these things give temporary relief because they can’t fix you. Trying to escape your problems is like trying to outrun a snowball as it rolls down a mountain. The more you run the bigger the snowball becomes until one day it catches up to you and crushes you.
Turn and face the snowball now.
Stop running and begin building a life that requires no escape