Don't Give Up
It's pretty easy to convince yourself that everything is purposeless and that you don't matter, especially with the backdrop of a cold, vast, and largely unknowable universe.
Let's call this The Depressing Truth.
Now let's do a fun experiment:
Think back to the last time you had a moment of elation. It shouldn't be complicated. You could have been playing a video game, eating a slice of cake, done generally well in some activity, been at a cafe, etc.
Notice that in said moment of elation, The Depressing Truth did not matter. One cool part about being a hominid is that you can only attend to one thing at a time. It's hard to ruminate on existentialism while being extremely stoked about a sandwich. Another cool thing about being our flavor of hominid is that, given some planning and time, we can change our futures for the better.
So if you find yourself ruminating on The Depressing Truth, here are some instant cures:
- Take a shower
- Clean a single room
While not fun, these will instantly stop rumination and improve both yourself and your environment.
They will remind you of what I call The Elating Truth:
Even against the backdrop of a cold, vast, and largely unknowable universe, we have the immense power to change our circumstances for the better. We are antithesis of entropy. We are the harbingers of order.
While you should always let yourself feel your emotions, even if they're negative, when you find yourself ruminating use your superpower that nearly everything else in the universe lacks: make things a bit better.
Please, don't give up.