by BRIANNA SICILIANO Social Media Coordinator
We all fight our own battles and suffer our own wounds whether they are physical, mental, or emotional. No one can even imagine the stress, anxiety, and pain that you have suffered, and you cannot imagine those that others will suffer from, too, but there is something that everyone in the world has in common: we all look for escapes.
For some people, distractions and escapes are the only reason that they are still fighting for their lives. Distractions and escapes are exactly what they sound like: they distract you from whatever it is you need to stop thinking about, feeling, or living through. People of all ages search for distractions to help keep their sanity. What do you use as your escape?
Without realizing it, we all have one or more go-to distractions. When our lives start going downhill, we turn to these distractions.
Distractions and escapes come in many different forms. While your distraction might be playing a sport, going for a jog, or listening to a band, your best friend’s distraction could be creating art, focusing her attention on all things make-up related, or stuffing her face with food while crying her sorrows away.
It is important to search for––and pursue––distractions that are healthy. Do not go for distractions that will harm yourself and your body; they will only make things worse.
Eating disorders, self-harm, doing drugs, and becoming an advocate for violence is NOT what you want your distraction to be. These ‘distractions’ are not temporary; these ‘distractions’ do not help you at all. All that these ‘distractions’ do is make your life worse by adding many more years of suffering and pain in your life, and these issues are not addictions and indulgences are not easy to overcome.
If you are suffering and trying to recover from an eating disorder, self-harm, doing drugs, or violent behavior, reach out for help! Do not remain in silence! You can get your life back once you open up to someone trustworthy!
The entire point of pursing an escape is to find a way to trick our minds into thinking nothing is wrong, and to hopefully find temporary or lasting happiness.
For example, if you are being verbally bullied, you can carry headphones with you to avoid listening to the hurtful remarks the bully makes. Eventually, your bully will have to stop bullying you because he/she will see that you are too busy listening to your music to care about whatever he/she is trying to say.
For the record, bullies are just insecure people trying to put others down to make themselves feel better. If you are being bullied, do not let your bully have power over you, your feelings, or your body. You are much more than who your bully makes you feel like.
It is extremely important to find a healthy distraction that you enjoy. Watching and playing sports; pursuing an art passion like singing, dancing, writing, photography, sculpting, sketching, or painting; listening to your favorite singer(s); working out and reading are great examples of ways to release some steam while escaping from issues that victimize you.
When you do find the perfect escape––the escape that gets all of your negative energy far away from your soul, mind and body––cherish it. Never let that escape go. You never know when you will need it most.
What escapes and distractions work best for you?