Finding comfort in troubled times
"Nothing is stronger than a small hope that doesn't give up." A few snippets from Matt Haig's 'Comfort Book'.
I'm not a fan of the self-help genre. In fact, I stay away from it as far as possible. Matt Haig's The Comfort Book, however, has been helpful as I find myself in a pall of a gloom. A mix of jottings, quotes, songs, recipes, movie recommendations, tales, his own experience with depression and anxiety - it's perfect to read when your mind refuses to process anything longer than a page or two. Reading it is like going back to your own saved notes or forwards from friends. Honestly, if I could compile the thousands of things I save online or my notebook, it would probably read a little like the Comfort Book, personalised. For now though, here are some snippets of the book that spoke to me:
To remember during the bad days
It won’t last.
You have felt other things. You will feel other things again.
Emotions are like weather. They change and shift. Clouds can seem as still as stone. We look at them and hardly notice a change at all. And yet they always move.
The worst part of any experience is the part where you feel like you can’t take it any more. So, if you feel like you can’t take it any more, chances are you are already at the worst point. The only feelings you have left to experience are better than this one.
You are still here. And that is everything.
No physical appearance is worth not eating pasta for.
Scroll your mind
Social media can be a gallery of lives you aren’t living. Of diets you aren’t following. Of parties you’re not attending. Of holidays you’re not on. Of fun you’re not having. So, cut yourself a break and scroll your mind instead. Scroll your consciousness for reasons to be grateful to be you. The only fear of missing out that matters is the fear of missing out on yourself.
One beautiful thing
Experience one beautiful thing a day. However small. However trivial. Read a poem. Play a favourite song. Laugh with a friend. Gaze at the sky just before the sun’s final tumble towards night. Watch a classic movie. Eat a slice of lemon drizzle cake. Whatever. Just give yourself one simple reminder that the world is full of wonders. Even if we are at a point in life where we can’t appreciate things, it sometimes helps to remember there are things in this world to enjoy, when we are ready.
The bearable rightness of being
Being > doing