Striving Towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

Here’s something I’ve figured out: low moods actually pass on their own if you just let them. But the problem? I never just let them.

Instead, I start looking for reasons. Why do I feel this way? And once I find something—or make something up—I’ve basically thrown gasoline on a dying fire. Now my mood can’t pass because I’m actively keeping it alive. The more I think about whatever “reason” I’ve latched onto, the worse everything seems.

When I’m in a funk and I ignore negative thoughts, people might think that’s denial or being irresponsible. But it’s not.

Here’s the thing: my real problems, if they actually exist, will still be sitting there waiting for me when my mood lifts. The only difference? When I feel better, I’ll actually be able to handle them.

What kind of solutions am I going to come up with when I’m already in the pit? Terrible ones. Dramatic ones. “Burn it all down” ones. None of them helpful.

One of the worst parts about low moods is they always feel permanent. Like you’re stuck in a pitch-black cave with no way out.

But here’s what helps: if I’ve been in this particular cave five hundred times before, even though I can’t see any light right now, I know it’s there. I’ve found it before. Every. Single. Time.

There’s no reason to panic. It’s just a matter of waiting it out.

Every time feels like “the worst one”

The trick is, no matter how many times I’ve been through this, it always seems like this low mood is different. This one’s justified. This one’s the worst. This one will definitely last forever.

But it won’t.

If I can just remember what’s happening while it’s happening—”Oh, this is just a low mood doing its thing”—I’m protected from the worst of it. The light really is just around the corner. I just can’t panic and I can’t start digging myself deeper.

Here’s something wild I realized: the ego isn’t even real. Like, it literally doesn’t exist.

We only have egos because we think we do.

My ego is just my thoughts about who I think I am. It’s not actually me—it’s my idea of me.

And that whole thing about needing a strong ego to succeed? Total myth.

Actually, the opposite is true. I only started appreciating who I really am when I stopped trying so hard to prove myself. When I let go of all those thoughts about who I’m supposed to be, the insecurity started lifting. That’s when I could finally get out of my own head and just… function normally.

The take home message:

Low moods feel permanent but they’re not. They’re temporary illusions that I keep feeding with my thoughts.

Same with ego—it’s just a collection of stories I tell myself that I’ve confused with my actual identity.

Both will fade on their own if I just stop analyzing them, stop feeding them, and stop taking them so seriously.

The light’s there. It always has been. I just need to stop staring at the darkness.