Escaping reality. I do this a lot. I often find myself daydreaming, immersing myself in a good book or around this time of year- watching vlogmas of different youtuber’s. I often prefer the comfort of someone else’s reality rather than my own. I thoroughly enjoy forgetting my own worries and allow myself to live vicariously through others. Sometimes, something a little stronger is necessary to whisk you away from the present. Disappearing mentally can come in different forms. Escaping reality, in whatever way you choose, can become an addiction. A habit that’s hard to kick, if you will. So where do you draw the line? How do you get yourself to embrace your reality more so than escaping it?
When you feel like you’re in a perpetual state of bad news and bad things happening, it’s unbelievably easy to slip away into an alternate state of mind. This especially holds so when we’re constantly scrolling through what seems like insta-perfect people and their insta-perfect lives. We start to crave a life we assume everyone else is living.
We assure ourselves, “it’s fine, I’m fine, everything’s fine” when 9 times out of 10, it’s probably not. Ignoring/avoiding issues will start to take a toll on you mentally and physically. You’ll realize you’re not being genuinely positive, you’re being positive for show. “Fake it till you make it” does work at times, but it probably won’t work when it comes to genuine happiness. You need to come in tune with your emotions. If something stressful arises, you have to do everything you can to face it head on. I know this is easier said than done, because this is one of the biggest things I struggle with. If we don’t, however, the stress will continue to add on each day until you finally get to a breaking point. If you continue to live in a façade, you’ll never be able to create a desirable reality you actively want to participate in.
Something I tend to preach is: you shouldn’t stress over what you can’t change. Look at the things that make you wanna run in the other direction. Once you’re able to face them, only then can you start coming up with solutions to fix them. Now look at the things that make you wanna get out of bed every day. Embrace those things and realize you actually have a reality worth living in.
It’s good to escape reality from time to time. Everybody needs to in order to stay sane. Try not to get consumed by it. Don’t let it become an addiction otherwise you’ll never get addicted to living your life, and even more so... your best life.
-love Sof
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