The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F_ck

pain of psychological growth. And to deny that pain is to
deny our own potential. Just as one must suffer physical
pain to build stronger bone and muscle, one must suffer
emotional pain to develop greater emotional resilience, a
stronger sense of self, increased compassion, and a
generally happier life.
Our most radical changes in perspective often happen at
the tail end of our worst moments. It’s only when we feel
intense pain that we’re willing to look at our values and
question why they seem to be failing us. We need some sort
of existential crisis to take an objective look at how we’ve
been deriving meaning in our life, and then consider
changing course.
You could call it “hitting bottom” or “having an existential
crisis.” I prefer to call it “weathering the shitstorm.” Choose
what suits you.
And perhaps you’re in that kind of place right now.
Perhaps you’re coming out of the most significant challenge
of your life and are bewildered because everything you
previously thought to be true and normal and good has
turned out to be the opposite.
That’s good—that’s the beginning. I can’t stress this
enough, but pain is part of the process. It’s important to feel
it. Because if you just chase after highs to cover up the pain,
if you continue to indulge in entitlement and delusional
positive thinking, if you continue to overindulge in various
substances or activities, then you’ll never generate the
requisite motivation to actually change.
When I was young, any time my family got a new VCR or
stereo, I would press every button, plug and unplug every
cord and cable, just to see what everything did. With time, I
learned how the whole system worked. And because I knew
how it all worked, I was often the only person in the house
who used the stuff.
As is the case for many millennial children, my parents
looked on as if I were some sort of prodigy. To them, the fact