How to Start Using "I Don't Care" to Your Advantage

Are we miserable because we’re too stupid? Now don’t take this the wrong way. I mean to say, do you think the gap you’re trying to fill will be filled by this obscure thing we call “understanding.” How easy it is to assume that our lives are not where we want them to be because we don’t understand enough and once we understand we will be saved. Ah, the false promises of naive youth, we’ll be ok once we “have all the answers.” If only we understood why we had to go through certain challenges and why things worked out that initially didn’t make any sense. But what if understanding wasn’t so elusive? What if we understand more than we would like to admit but kill our chance to grow and learn by using the convenient “I don’t care.”

     For example, we all have ideas of things we should do, maybe I should work out more, spend more time with family, and let the enjoyment of the little things in life replace anxiety about everything. Let’s be real, when following through with things means facing your own insecurities and fears, not caring is pretty convenient. “I don’t care” can be translated as “I understand in my head the next step but I don’t feel it in my heart to consent to follow through.” It’s as if the understanding we seek has entered our lives at times but we don’t give it a second thought because we don’t care.

Our society exacerbates this situation by putting all this pressure on us of things we should do or success we should have, mostly coming from people who are displacing their own fears on us. The hard part is getting in touch with what your heart says you should do. Saying “I don’t care” when we feel called to pursue something/someone in our lives is like suffocating a heart desperate to express itself. When we say “I don’t care” we are choosing the convenient over the necessary, choosing the comfort of inaction over the challenge of passion. Remember no human being has it “figured out.” Perhaps you can’t seem to make any sense of what is happening in your life. So what? The next thing you do, as small as it is, get it right and stack up little wins that make a big difference over time. 

 No more using “I don’t care” when our heart tells us we have to do something to fulfill who we are supposed to be. Instead, let’s start using “I don’t care” to our advantage. “But not everyone is going to accept you for who you are.” Yeah, I don’t care. “But pursuing your dream life is a risky venture that will leave you disappointed.”  Yeah, I don’t care. “But if you don’t be fake you won’t make as many friends.” Yeah, I don’t care. Now I know what you’re thinking, “When will this man stop rambling!” Sorry to keep you so long. Although truthfully I don’t care, because I dare to be myself and you should too, as eccentric and imperfect as the truest version of you can be. Earlier I thought to myself, “My ideas are few and disorganized why write at all?” Because I want to be a writer and when faced with my limitations and insecurities I don’t care. I’m going to be who I know I’m supposed to be. I hope you do too.