- 07 Nov, 2025 *
We all reach points in life where we’re on the brink of falling apart. The burnout most people feel today is real. Sometimes your personal life is in disarray, your professional life offers nothing to celebrate, toxic relationships drain you, and the absence of meaningful friendships takes its toll. Add financial pressure to the mix, and you have a perfect recipe for a mental breakdown. For many, alcohol and empty affairs become the only escape.
The path of degradation is slippery—one thing leads to another. Your mind is peculiar in that it will do anything to protect you, even if that means turning to drugs. As far as your mind is concerned, everything is acceptable as long as you feel good in the moment. But there is another way out of such situations. We need…
- 07 Nov, 2025 *
We all reach points in life where we’re on the brink of falling apart. The burnout most people feel today is real. Sometimes your personal life is in disarray, your professional life offers nothing to celebrate, toxic relationships drain you, and the absence of meaningful friendships takes its toll. Add financial pressure to the mix, and you have a perfect recipe for a mental breakdown. For many, alcohol and empty affairs become the only escape.
The path of degradation is slippery—one thing leads to another. Your mind is peculiar in that it will do anything to protect you, even if that means turning to drugs. As far as your mind is concerned, everything is acceptable as long as you feel good in the moment. But there is another way out of such situations. We need to cultivate acceptance that we will never be as perfect as we imagine ourselves to be. The ideal version we’ve sculpted in our minds must be released because while it represents our potential, it also haunts us with reminders of what we haven’t achieved.
Life isn’t about following one rigid path or becoming just one kind of person. It’s about assessing your present reality and choosing the most optimal path toward a quality life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, pick up a pen and paper and write down the top five things that are suffocating you. Answer honestly: What is making you feel overwhelmed, pressured, or deeply lonely?
Do this exercise multiple times. Every time you feel overwhelmed and want to retreat into a corner, pick up that pen and paper again. Then analyze your responses. Are you writing the same things each time? Do they appear in the same order? The purpose is to identify what’s truly choking you from within—to understand which one or two things, if fixed, would make the greatest difference.
Chances are, the sequences will be similar. Only a few items will switch positions depending on whether you’re feeling particularly lonely or insecure that day. After this exercise, ask yourself one crucial question: If I could only resolve one thing on this list, which would it be?
Because no matter what you do in life, there will always be tradeoffs. Nobody has everything. The wealthy often sacrifice their health, the healthy may lack wealth, and those who have both may lack the awareness to appreciate it.
Accept that tradeoffs are inevitable. Pick the one thing that would make your life significantly better, then list the tradeoffs associated with pursuing it. Are you comfortable with those tradeoffs? If yes, you know which direction to move in, and when those tradeoffs materialize, you won’t feel anxious or blindsided—because you anticipated them.
Some people prioritize relationships over ambitious careers. That’s their tradeoff, and they’re at peace with it. Others prioritize ambition but later struggle with loneliness and declining health. That’s their tradeoff. Problems arise only when we fail to evaluate or accept that tradeoffs will always exist.
Make a list of what would genuinely improve your life—the things you’ve been praying for, desperately wanting, and grieving over. Write down the associated tradeoffs, then start working toward improving your life with the understanding that managing tradeoffs is simply part of the journey.