When you’re going through a hard time, sitting alone with your thoughts to “reflect and process” is rarely the answer.
The more you try to reflect in isolation, the worse you’ll feel. Slowly, you’ll find yourself drowning in self-reproach and guilt.
The far better approach is to sit down with trustworthy people around you — especially friends who’ve been through business ventures, investments, or personal growth journeys. Listen to their failure stories too. In that moment, your own mental state will ease considerably.
Master Chi has a friend who, three years ago, was at the absolute lowest point of his life. Both his marriage and his career were on the verge of collapse. Night after night, he wept alone in the dark — silently, afraid to make a sound.
When he eventually opened up to Master Chi, my first response wasn’t to analyze his life pattern — even though I already knew he would pull himself back together within a couple of years.
Instead, I brought him along to a casual gathering with another circle of friends. During the evening, I gently steered the conversation toward setbacks and struggles over the years. Before long, everyone was naturally chiming in, sharing their own embarrassing stories of defeat and failure.
Hearing all of this, my friend suddenly realized: his workplace setbacks and marriage troubles were truly nothing to dwell on. Everyone had been through something like this — and everyone had found a way to carry on. His mindset shifted noticeably after that, and his life began, step by step, to turn around.
Here’s what you need to understand.
Human beings are, at their core, social creatures. So when you’re feeling overwhelmed, never bottle it up. Don’t huddle with people who drain your energy, and don’t try to work through things with people who lack the life experience to understand. (As Master Chi mentioned in yesterday’s piece, there’s a reason for this.)
Seek out the company of people who are positive, kind, optimistic, and honest.
In the presence of that kind of upward-flowing energy, even your deepest pain will, little by little, be dissolved.
So if you’re carrying something heavy right now — let it out in the comments below. Don’t hold it in; bottling things up will only make you sick. Let your brothers and sisters here share some of that emotional weight with you. ☀️