I’ll be honest, something that sounds like a spell from Harry Potter (“I cast mental haze!“) isn’t something I normally write about. My main interests when it comes to intellectual learning mainly consist of psychology, philosophy, and theology. If I study anything else it will probably end up being one of the arts – music, combat, imagery – that sort of thing.
I’ve found the answer to almost all of my life’s problems through one of those main channels of study.
And I know “Jesus is always the answer”. However: He did give us other answers to pursue that aren’t exactly stated in theological texts. One of which is the theme for today’s article.
An Intro Into Our Topic Of Mental Haze
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I’ve found myself struggling with this brain fog since I was a kid.
So, what exactly is a “mental haze”?
Let me try to explain:
The Mental Haze is something that comes over you at seemingly random times and it can stay over you like a cloud for hours, days, or sometimes even weeks.
When you have it, the Mental Haze is almost akin to a numbing agent. You can’t think perfectly straight; and your creativity and drive dim tremendously. It’s more than just mental or creative block, it’s a murky feeling like your brain and body are in a fog that just won’t let up.
Have you been there?
If you’ve read this far in then there’s a good chance you’ve felt what I’ve felt, and maybe you’re hoping to get rid of that feeling as well.
Keep on reading, because if we’re on the same page then there’s really only one thing left to do: destroy this feeling!
The Dostoyevsky Solution
You want an easy answer: you’re the problem.
It’s you versus you; you’re the number one enemy.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer in the mid to late 1800s who got caught up in revolutionary groups that spoke out a little too loudly against the Czar of the day – Czar Nicolas. the ruler was less than pleased with the revolutionary groups. To make sort of a long story short, in a dramatic display of power, Nicolas had his officers round up Fyodor and his friends in a public place and pretend to be preparing to execute them.
The rowdy bunch of friends were struck with a terror previously unimaginable to them (they were only young men after all). Some of them completely snapped and went insane. Not Fyodor Dostoyevsky. He looked up at the sky and a strangely timed thought occurred to him:
“if this wasn’t his last day on earth and he did actually manage to live another, every day moving forward would be of such splendor and value I won’t waste another second of it.”
His almost dazed thinking became reality soon after that moment, and he was brought through a set of punishments over the next few years that ended in the result of him being a free man once again. Never again did Fyodor waste a second. His books afterward were vibrant, long, and constant, with so much quality poured into them that one who read his work would have the sense that its author was writing as though this were the last thing he ever did.
Dostoyevsky didn’t waste time after that fateful day because he had been thrust into a harsh reality – so harsh that it drove some mad. It was the reality that we are all going to die one day.
Some Tough Words To Digest, But Necessary
And whether you are a person of faith or you aren’t, that reality is still relevant to you. Today could be your last. Your last breakfast, your last coffee, your last smile, your last tear…
This is no time for push-ups or writing out a to-do list – do those things later. Sit with yourself for a moment and face that reality, don’t turn away from it or apply it’s energy to whichever activity you deem worthy. It is a daunting, terrifying thought.
So what are you doing with yourself?
You have so few hours to be alive, how many are spent escaping into fantastic, fictional experiences?
There is so little time to love those around you, yet how often do you act like you can harbor your hate towards people and forgive them later – or worse, you never learn to forgive? “I have time to learn that stuff later”.
You don’t.
Your Mental Haze is caused in part by a lack of urgency.
You’re comfortable in the illusion of infinite time. You’re putting a screen to your face, putting a new relationship you hardly care about in your life, applying to a job you don’t care about or going to school for a degree you won’t use – all because it’s easier to distract yourself with ease and pleasure and throw yourself into what others tell you to do than it is to face the hard truths and disappoint others.
At the end of the day, the harder choices will make you better.
It’s you versus you.
How are you going to respond?
Find The Sunlight
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I don’t have all the answers, but here’s what I did when faced with this problem of reality:
I took a look at those things that I love to do but didn’t really have the courage to pursue. Suddenly, with the thought of making every second count, I found that I could face those things.
I got over past disasters in relationships and found the girl I’m going to marry. I finally took the courage to quit the job I was working and instead apply for the one I wanted. And I got it!
Simply put: I went for it! Life is beautiful, extravagant, and meaningful! The saddest part about life is that most of us don’t truly experience it, we’re too scared to try!
I would encourage anyone and everyone who’s reading this to think on that thing that makes your life worth living – and go enjoy it! Your mental haze will go along with your hesitancy!