PASSION

How to feel Passion

A shift from apathy to passion reveals what really matters and why.

Superpowers used: sleep, nourishment, movement, awe

Other superpowers may be used as well. View all powers to shift states here.

Stop Feeling Apathy

Apathy is unlike every other feeling because it manifests as lack of feeling.

It is sinister because it can disguise itself as neutral by not being experienced as a negative feeling. Then, it can grow its roots inside, quietly spreading its toxicity without you feeling like you need to make a change.

If you're depressed, the pain is unbearable and you want to do something about it. But if you're apathetic, you're just numb – and a lot of damage can be done when you can't feel anything.  

It's similar to the fable of the frog in boiling water. If you put a frog in boiling water, they jump out, but if you put a frog in tepid water and slowly increase the heat, they remain even as the water starts to boil.  

Apathy can be like that. Shift states to sever the roots before they take hold.

Where does apathy come from?

It may appear for different reasons, but at the core, apathy produces a negative outlook of the future.

Here are just some of the reasons you may be feeling apathetic.

Why are you feeling apathetic?

Boredom: by repeating the same patterns with few deviations, your brain adapts to the environment and runs on autopilot.

Eventually, it feels safe in this tiny bubble and & convinces you to stay there even if you're feeling bored. This can often occur in sedentary lifestyles.

But this lack of novelty blinds you from all the things that are possible.

Boredom slowly robs meaning from life, and over time, can transform into apathy.

Overstimulation: with too many things to experience, it's not difficult to feel overwhelmed.

This can create the state of what's known as 'paralysis by analysis' where you end up doing nothing because you feel overwhelmed by the pressure to choose. To combat this, your body may turn 'off' and as a result, you feel apathetic.

This may happen from fatigue as well. After spending so much energy trying to keep up with all the stimulations in your environment, it can be difficult to discern what's important.

Instead of choosing, you may end up just feeling nothing.

Hopelessness: if you're feeling hopeless – like no matter what you do it won't matter – apathy is waiting on the other side.

After experiencing a traumatic event, or when we feel as though we've lost everything and there's no hope, our bodies may try to protect us by switching into 'safe mode.'

Otherwise known as apathy.

Apathy isn't safe

Apathy is a good liar. It subtly convinces you to release your agency of control. Then moves in.

It tells you it's okay if you're bored because it doesn't matter anyway. It does.

If you're overstimulated, apathy warns you of all the possible bad choices you could make and convinces you to not choose. You should.

If you're hopeless, apathy consoles you by saying that it doesn't really matter anyway. Bullshit. It does.

Apathy has the power to alter one's lens of perception from positive to negative more than any other emotion – not because it is overpowering, but exactly because it is not.

It's like the common cold. The virus has learned it doesn't spread all that often when you're so sick you stay at home all day.

But if you feel just good enough, it can get you to work sneezing itself all over the office.

Don't underestimate the seemingly neutral feeling of apathy. It's not centric. It's sinister.

Reconnecting to the truth

The truth is, what you do does matter.

You matter.

The choices you make and who you decide to be affects everyone around you. Then it affects everyone around them.

How you show up affects the world and how the world is treated. This is a fact.

Some people may argue whether things really matter since everything will one day simply disintegrate when the sun blows up.

I say to them: go help someone. It matters to them. And that's enough.

Why you should shift quickly

Unlike many other feelings, there isn't a lot to learn from apathy.

We can learn from sadness, from anger, from shame – but what can apathy teach?

By itself, nothing. You may be able to learn from the course that got you there but there are no inherent lessons within apathy.

Add that to its sinister traits and you have a strong case for shifting out of apathy as quickly as possible.

Here are four superpowers that can shift you from apathy to passion: movement, awe, nourishment, and sleep.

Power of Movement

Superpower Description:

Humans move far less today than any other time in history.

Before the Agricultural Revolution, humans took an estimated 50,000 steps per day. Once we began farming and settled, that number dropped to approximately 20,000.

Today, the average American takes 5,000 steps.

Movement is one of our most primal necessities and its neglection affects us.

On the positive side, it's also something we can do to shift us out of the state we're in. In fact, exercise may be the single best way to change how we're feeling.

Use Movement to Shift from Apathy

There's a good chance one reason you're experiencing apathy is a lack of movement.

But even if that's not the case, exercise can break you out of it.

Especially when you combine it with other elements.

Like nature, mindfulness, endurance, or skill.

Go for an outdoor stroll.

Take a dog for a run.

Climb a mountain.

Even if you can't take advantage of nature or it's miserable out, you can combine movement with mindfulness.

Try martial arts.

Take a yoga class.

Enjoy a guided walking meditation.

Not really in the mood for mindfulness?

How about you test your resolve.

Give cross-fit a try.

Take a fitness bootcamp class.

Push yourself to the limit at the gym.

Don't want to go hard?

That's fine, go technical.

Whether it's doing something you're skilled at, or learning a new skill, the movement will shift your state.

Try slacklining.

Go rock climbing.

Ski, snowboard, surf, skate, rollerblade.

Play Ping-Pong, shoot hoops, play golf.

In other words, MOVE your body.

Apathy can't remain in a body that is fully engaged.

Work. It. Out.

Power of Awe

Superpower Description:

One dose of awe has the power to completely revolutionize how we perceive the world. And ourselves. Awe is magic manifested through wonder helping us better comprehend we'll never be able to understand – and that's okay. In fact, it's incomprehensibly beautiful – a state of gratitude beyond words or emotion, expressing the mystery of wonder for being alive and connected to something beyond our understanding.

It is a superpower allowing us to see the reality we are interconnected to everything around us, so we can use it to connect with something greater than ourselves.

Use Awe to Shift from Apathy

Apathy dissolves in the face of awe.

Seriously. It can't hang.

Apathy is like that scary, scraping sound you hear at the window in the middle of the night that turns out to be just a branch in the wind.

It may feel powerful but it's weak. And in the face of awe, it's laughable.

Seriously. If you experience a state of awe, you can look back and actually laugh at apathy.

Awe has the power to show you the magnificence of everything.

Apathy doesn't stand a chance.

Go stare at the stars.

Watch the sun rise or set.

Jump in a cold body of water.

Walk in nature searching for things you've never seen.

Simply appreciate the odds of being alive were stacked against your favor & yet here you are.

The beautiful thing about living in this day and age is you can use technology to connect with awe too – not just nature.

From film, to music, to art, to literature, there is awe embedded into the DNA of everything.

Watch One Strange Rock on Netflix & appreciate this rock that birthed us.

Listen to a song that reminds you of the power of being alive.

Make a list of everything you are grateful for.

Read or listen to an engaging fiction book.

Watch an insipiring movie.

Whether it's through nature or technology, reconnect with the fact that just being alive in an incomprehensible universe is something to marvel at.

How can we feel apathetic when there are hundreds of billions of stars in every galaxy and hundreds of billions of galaxies?

Especially knowing there are more neural connections in just your brain than there are stars in the entire universe.

Things won't always feel good, things won't always feel bad – but we should always feel what it is to be alive. Being apathetic robs us of the soul of life by convincing us nothing is special when really, even the ability to feel apathetic is.

Power of Nourishment

Superpower Description:

Beyond the obvious fact you literally are what you eat, research has shown there are neurons in the gut. It's even been called our second brain. How we nourish our brain(s) and bodies will directly affect the quality of our experiences.

By nourishing your body with what it needs, you shift into a better state of being.

Use Nourishment to Shift from Apathy

The standard American diet is not how we evolved to eat.

Here's the description of what it consists of by Wikipedia:

"The Western pattern diet (WPD) or standard American diet (SAD) is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of red meat, processed meat, pre-packaged foods, butter, fried foods, high-fat dairy products, eggs, refined grains, potatoes, corn (and High-fructose corn syrup) and high-sugar drinks."

During the largest periods of the evolution of our guts, which occurred over millions of years, our ancestors ate mostly fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fungus-covered tropical leaves – with an occasional snack of flesh.

Of course, our diet plays a large role in how we feel.

But we're starting to understand it also plays a large role in how we think. So if the food we eat affects both how we think and how we feel, it would be wise of us to really pay attention to what we're eating.

The healthiest way to eat is to consume the same foods our bodies have been used to digesting for millions of years.

But living in the modern world, we also have an advantage. Not only do we have access to all types of food our ancestors ate, but we also have access to superfoods and nutritionally dense foods that can further enrich us.

Take advantage of this and consume foods that will shift your state.

Indulge in cacao.

Drink more water. Like now.

Order your favorite green juice.

Make a delicious smoothie.

Enjoy a colorful salad.

Research and try intermittent fasting.

When you eat, close your eyes to boost the flavor.

Take a moment of gratitude every time you're able to freely eat and drink.

Our ability to consciously nourish ourselves using the most nutritious food on the planet is a superpower other animals – and even our ancestors – could never dream of.

We are lucky enough to not only have enough food for survival, but to be able to choose what foods we want to eat to induce the mood we want.

It's a gift that should not be squandered or overlooked.

Nourishment is food for the soul.

Fill your cup.

Shift States to feel:

Miles Rote

Your environment produces you.
So become the director.
#shiftstates