Apathy is something that most of us have experienced a time or two in our lives, and for many of us, the feelings of apathy are all too familiar. The good news is, there are ways to rid yourself from feeling the absence of passion, emotion, and excitement… and it’s a lot simpler than you may think.
But first, let’s talk about how apathy affects you and your ability to live life to the fullest. Not only do apathetic feelings ultimately leave you feeling empty and unhappy due to the lack of motivation and desire, but it can also have negative effects on your social life, your studies (if applicable), and your work. Apathy seems to heavily promote procrastination, and unfortunately, it has even been closely linked to suicide. Suffice to say, apathy is a little more than a mild issue.
Fortunately though, apathy can be cured in three easy, but important steps. So the next time you feel apathetic, just think back to this article and maybe it’ll be exactly what you need to inject a little emotion into your state-of-being.
Understand What Apathy Is
While the cause of your apathetic perception of the world may stem from past experiences, your peers, and social conditioning, apathy is actually something you have direct control over. If you are feeling apathetic, somewhere in your mind, you have chosen to see the world as apathetic.
There are many people in the world in your exact situation, yet a vast amount of those same people are not feeling apathetic, yet they live in the same world as you do. This proves that apathy is all in your head, and is ultimately how you have created the world in your mind.
Consciously choose to create a better world in your mind, stick with those thoughts, and eventually you’ll find that there is excitement and passion all around you.
Imagine this scenario. It’s a bright, sunny day and you are in a house. From where you stand, you can see two windows. One is extremely cracked and foggy, while the other is crystal clear as if someone had just cleaned it. The cracked, foggy window is labeled apathy, and the clear window is labeled joy. Which one would you choose to look through?
As overly simple as that sounds, that’s exactly the way it works in your mind. So first make the choice to start looking through the window of joy from now on.
Set Goals and Make Plans
Apathy is sometimes caused by lacking a clear purpose for your life, so an easy way to fix that is to make some goals for yourself. Make big goals and small goals. Then, draft up all the steps it takes, from A-Z, how you plan on achieving them. If you allow yourself to be overly optimistic and don’t let negative attitudes or beliefs get in your way, this could actually be a fun little exercise, and can leave you with a feeling or purpose.
Read a Book
Sometimes, mild apathetic moods can easily be cured by reading a book. Don’t like to read? Well, it definitely won’t hurt you so why don’t you give it a try? Who knows, maybe it’s not that you don’t like to read… maybe you’ve just never read a book you would enjoy. Watching movies is something I think most people enjoy, but I don’t think that would be the case if they went their whole lives watching movies that didn’t appeal to them. The same goes with books.
Books, however, will increase blood flow to your brain, and will help build neural connections so it’s not only good for you, but it will get your mind off of the way you are feeling because sometimes apathy only gets worse because many times those who are experiencing apathy lay around and dwell on it. So take a trip to your local bookstore and make an agreement with yourself to read at least one book.
Conclusion
So the next time you begin to feel the onset of apathy entering your day, I recommend you follow all the three steps I mentioned, though sometimes only one or two of them will be enough. It’s literally as simple as choosing not to perceive the world as apathetic, making some goals to create a sense of purpose in your life, and getting your mind off of apathetic feelings.
Remember those three things and you’ll be one step closer to living your life to the fullest.
Jonathan Beebe
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