If you are anything like me, you get so excited when you find something you love and are passionate for. So much so, that thing becomes your primary focus and attention, leaving behind everything else in the dust to fend for themselves. My interest in wellness and self help began at a time when I felt alone and crazy. I felt that I could not relate to anyone and did not understand why I felt this way. There was a deep burning fire inside me that I was dying to explore. I knew I was not happy and that I was meant to be doing more than I am, but had no idea how or what to do.
I work at a computer all day so my first instinct was to start googling the way I felt. I found websites like MindBodyGreen that provided answers to all my issues, “How to Change your Life to Become Truly Happy” or “Why Escaping is not Necessarily the Key to Happiness“. Self help was the tool that validated my feelings, providing relief to the repeating negative thoughts that I was crazy or not normal.
I thought I had it figured out, a way to find the answers to the unknown and feel good when I wasn’t certain. Like anything that seems to work, it became my go to method. I used it any chance I could. Searching online became the first thing I did to try and search for a solution. So much so that I stopped thinking for myself and started relying on what other people were experiencing. My feelings were contradicting, flopping in each direction based on which article I had read.
Books, videos, lectures and articles have all been amazing tools to grow and learn from, but in the end we can only make our own decisions. Focusing inward and accepting the unknown will provide the real clarity that we so desire. Using self help to validate your decision and heal can be just the thing you needed. In my case it became the tool I used to base my decisions on, which will never result in satisfaction.
It is important to recognize the point when it has become too much. When you feel like you stopped learning and started obsessing. Sometimes there are no answers even though we try to find them. When you start seeking answers to the unknown, it is like entering an endless cycle of manic bi-polar frustration and relief. Once you accept where you are is when you can start moving forward.
3 Signs Self Help has Stopped Working:
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Your immediate reaction is to google any struggle you are having
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Your decision flip flops on a regular basis
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You have lost sight of your original intention