Day 95: Stop Living a Life of Quiet Desperation

Henry David Thoreau wrote in On Walden Pond, “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Do you?

Do you struggle in your life with work, family life, and try to get by?

I see so many people looking to numb themselves with alcohol, drugs, sex, or anything to get them through the pain that they are living.

Even the rich and the famous, who we think have it so easy, struggle no matter the amount of money they have.

The choice is whether we will continue to struggle and live quiet lives or if we will live to our full potential.

Do you want to continue to suffer and get by?

Or, perhaps, is there another way?

What if you took ownership of your life and saw new possibilities on how to live?

Not living like a victim but embracing life and making choices that are healthy and grounding for you?

The choices that we make today will make who we are tomorrow.

If we want to live to our full potential, no one is going to come and save us. We have to find the road ourselves. That might mean stumbling, falling, getting lost, and being afraid. But then we can get back up and find our way.

We have thousands of choices each day to continue to live repressed, desperate, or out of control. Or maybe we have numbed ourselves from the world so that we don’t feel anything. We’ve inoculated ourselves from others so that we won’t be hurt again.

To live a full life and to embrace our potential is scary as hell.

There’s no singular path, and what your full potential is will probably be different than another.

But imagine waking up and feeling free. Or imagine being on the path or uses the physical, emotional, and spiritual muscles to keep you strong.

We don’t wake up and go: “Today, I will now be whole, and all my concerns and worries will melt away” (as you flourish a wave of your magic wand).

Life isn’t like that.

The journey is of time of a breadth of knowledge that we cannot know the full scope. We only have today in front of us.

The habits, choices, and love we give today will help pave tomorrow’s road.

How to stop living a life of quiet desperation?

Take a chance on yourself and grow.

Sign up for a new class, take out the paints and brushes again, find that job you always wanted, thaw your heart and be willing to love, embrace yourself with love like you fully deserve.

Desperation is a trap within our minds.

When you clear away the illusion, then you can be free.


Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.