What I Learned From The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck

I ended the month of May with The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson and I LOVED IT. 

Honestly I was really surprised that I enjoyed it this much to the extent that I am willing to write a blog post about it 😂. 

This book is great, it's hilarious, I love the writing, and the lessons are amazing. It's just what I needed to hear at this moment. I can see clearly now why this book is so popular.

In this post, I am going to list down a few things that I learned from this book, and that I wish to apply in my life or little things mentioned in this book that I just want to ponder on. So without further ado, let's get into it!

1. How the internet is affecting us.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

Back in Grandpa’s day, he would feel like shit and think to himself, “Gee whiz, I sure do feel like a cow turd today. But hey, I guess that’s just life. Back to shoveling hay.”

But now? Now if you feel like shit for even five minutes, you’re bombarded with 350 images of people totally happy and having amazing fucking lives, and it’s impossible to not feel like there’s something wrong with you.

Isn't this true? We forget that it's normal to feel crappy sometimes. And seeing all the people displaying how happy they are on social medias makes us feel even more miserable. We shouldn't let the media control us. :)

2. Give a f*ck about things that are important to you.

You don't have to care, or in the terms of profanity, give a f*ck about everything and everyone. You have to choose which area is worthy enough for your f*cks. 

Example of unworthy of f*cks: 

-What people think of you. Whether they like you or not. Whether they are impressed or not. Because you can't control these things. You can't control how they feel. So it is not worth sweating about it. 

Example of things that are worthy of your f*cks:

-Your intentions/your actions...etc. Things that you can actually control.

I love this idea. Personally, I worry a lot about everything. And all this worrying really drains me out and making me more anxious. And it sucks. The thought of caring about things that are truly important to me sounds much more convenient and it lessens my anxiety too!

3. The uncertainties of todays...

•[...] as we look back in horror at the lives of people five hundred years ago, I imagine people five hundred years from now will laugh at us and our certainties today.

•They will study our art and argue over our history. They will understand truths about us of which none of us are yet aware.

And they, too, will be wrong. Just less wrong than we were.

Something that I find really interesting to think about. 

4. Maybe we shouldn't trust our brain that much.....

•The comedian Emo Philips once said, “I used to think the human brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.”

There is also a story included in this chapter of a woman named Meredith Maran, who made a huge mistake in "bringing back" a repressed memory of her father sexually abusing her when she was a child. [Spoiler: He didn't. And she only realized her mistake after her father died.]

I was really scared after reading the full story of Meredith Maran.

5. This is a topic that I am still standing on the fence on, I have not decided yet where I should stand: "The uses of affirmatives".

Excerpts from the book:

 

•But when you stop and really think about it, conventional life advice—all the positive and happy self-help stuff we hear all the time—is actually fixating on what you lack. It lasers in on what you perceive your personal shortcomings and failures to already be, and then emphasizes them for you. 

•You stand in front of the mirror and repeat affirmations saying that you’re beautiful because you feel as though you’re not beautiful already. 

•You try goofy visualization exercises about being more successful because you feel as though you aren’t successful enough already.

•After all, no truly happy person feels the need to stand in front of a mirror and recite that she’s happy. She just is.

This really made me think hard. Does affirmations really work or does it only worsen our mental condition? 

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Aah! Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it. Xx