Question:
Hi Adam,
How can I stop feeling depressed, flat and empty? Nothing seems to excite me or motive me, and I feel stuck in this limbo dead state. Since this coronavirus isolation I've been at home, and I have felt so empty with nothing-ness, just a bland state of being and flat emotionally. I am looking for things to motive me and change my focus for some excitement but nothing seems to really motivate me emotionally. People ring me and I must sound really down and empty inside.
I go running, I do Thai boxing some days but I still feel very disconnected from my self and life and people. I feel very alone and flat.
I am trying to own my life and give it meaning and hope and take control with my action and mindset, but sometimes I feel like it's a losing battle, because nothing keeps my head above water long enough and I fall back into this flat empty meaningless self.
I need a constant propping up for the next thing, but it's not always there and I run out of ideas. Nothing seems to keep my head above water for me to keep going, if you understand.
I might go running and feel good, but the next day I will feel flat empty again, because I just cant sustain the high all the time and then I feel empty and flat. Nothing seems to sustain it, I am always looking to escape my self because it's such a dreary sense of self - flat, empty, no self, just no personality who is all up beat and full of life. I feel like I need new things in my life to make me feel this aliveness constantly, daily, my attention needs to be constant with new things or I just get depressed, empty and flat.
Thanks for listening. All the best stay safe.
Response:
Hi Butler,
Maybe it will help to drop the idea that it is bad to have no motivation. The world will tell you it is a bad thing, but sometimes the belief that it is bad can keep it in place for longer than it would normally be there.
See how much you are still resisting this moment. This moment includes your own sense of self. See if it is possible to resist this moment less. If you feel any kind of negative emotion, your mind is focussed away from who you truly are, and it is resisting something unwanted. Don't take your own mindset so personally. See it as part of the moment, and that there is no benefit in resisting it.
At least running helps. At least you have something that you know can help relieve inner unpleasantness. Focus even more on how you feel better after a run, and feel good in the knowing that you have something that helps.
Perhaps you are not very busy with lots to do right now. That can be a tremendous freedom if you choose to see it that way. If there is nothing pressing for you to do right now, appreciate the freedom you have in the moment.
Another little trick that can help is to just ask yourself how you would like to feel instead. Perhaps the answer is happy, fresh, enthusiastic or grateful. If you ask the question and allow the answer, you can invite a much more pleasant state to arise, because you are ALLOWING a different frequency, and you are open to experiencing it. This can seem too simple or easy, but give it a try and see what happens.
I hope that helps, feel free to ask more if needed.
Thanks for your question,
Adam
This breathing exercise might also help:
Inner Peace Now > Finding Inner Peace > Dealing With Isolation During Coronavirus