There is a great deal of emphasis in today’s society placed upon how much we care about things and others. A lot of times, we care quite a bit about how others think of us, or how a situation reflects on us. Today I entice you to consider caring less. Perhaps your mental health symptoms and struggles are a result of caring too much. Suffering is not simply pain, it is pain that one mentally rejects. Acceptance is the opposite of rejection. Perhaps if we accept more things, people around us will be more likely to accept us. We receive the energy we give away.
How many times do you think your suffering has been a result of caring too much about something that happened at work or within your family life? How many times would you have preferred to experience peace rather than suffering? Peace is the goal, is it not?
The laundry, the dishes, the deadlines… they are not a matter of life of death in that moment. Perhaps we simply care too much about them.
Many of us have transitioned to working at home where things we used to not have to care about are now with us all day every day. Because these things are at the forefront of our minds in our sphere of vision, we have fallen into caring more than we did when we didn’t have to look at it. This trap steals our peace, but we are in control of our own lives. We do not have to give away our power and let our peace slip away.
Dishes will eventually get done. Laundry will eventually get done. Deadlines will come and go and they will be met. The more we stress about these things, the less efficient we are in accomplishing what needs to be accomplished. Perhaps we are the person in our household who cares the most about things. When you are the person who cares the most about things, your suffering is likely to rise to the amount that you care. Those who do not care, remain unbothered. There is no prize for being the person in your circle that cares the most. The only “reward” is pain, suffering, blame, and conflict because when you care the most, it is way more likely for you to resent those in your circle who do not care as much.
It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that because they don’t care about what you care about, that they don’t care about you. One does not necessarily mean the other, and in fact, you are not a manifestation of the things you care about. You are not unfinished laundry or dishes, you are not a looming deadline. Doesn’t it sound funny when you put it that way? So why does it matter if the people that matter to you do not care about these things. These things do not define you because you care about them.
So one of the best things that you can do for yourself is practice the subtle art of caring less. If you find that you are starting to feel pain and suffering about some menial task… ask yourself… Is THIS something I could care less about? What mental health skills practices could help me to care less about THIS? And then take a deep breath and remember what you learned from your advisor at Asylum Advising… This moment is the only one that exists. Be grateful for your breath because you are still breathing. No amount of stress will change the current circumstances, you might as well breath it in and accept the present for what it is… a gift. Your peace is too valuable to give away to anything or anyone. Breathe in peace, and breath out caring about stuff that really doesn’t matter. Not caring will actually get the things done faster than caring too much.