On unfamiliar terrain

We can't always be the best versions of ourselves. This is simply unsustainable. Sometimes, things happen that throw us off our paths and block us, often out of our control. Dead ends. There are times where everything moves too quickly for you, where you're dropped in a new territory and you feel unprepared to deal with it. A sense of hopelessness falls over you, and you feel disconnected from life. You want to cry, but you can't produce any tears. You're in the desert now. A familiar place, but not a place you like to be.

You wander, go through the motions, and all you see is the bare sand. You're desperate to see the grass, to feel normal again. You might not know how you got here, but you want to get out. You might fall back into habits you wanted to leave behind. You might drop habits you've built up. Cut off from life, you don't see their value anymore.

In these times, we need to hold on, and focus on finding our way out of the desert. We need to take it one step at a time, how difficult each step might be. We need to look for insights, our way out. Try to keep your self-corrective habits intact, they are the key to your escape, how difficult they might be at the moment and how useless they might look.

In the meantime, be kind to yourself. Comfort yourself with some nice music to listen to, give yourself some rest, and be patient with yourself. You don't need to be harsh. We're all humans, and we aren't perfect. How eternal these times might look, it will come to pass. Treat yourself nicely, because you deserve some comfort. We can't love others as ourselves if we don't even love ourselves.

You will reach the other side.