Ask Lemmy

From one of Patton Oswald's stand up specials, he shares his late wife's mantra, as a devout atheist: "It's chaos. Be kind." Nothing means anything, nothing happens for a reason, things just happen, they only have the meaning we bring to them, be kind.

"it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

And even if it turns out to be, we'll only really know in hindsight.

Don't know if it counts, but I often think about when I face difficult situations.

The whole book of Ecclesiastes

This is probably a toxic one I learned from my teachers that time I tried learning Korean:

If it feels like you're drowning it's cause you haven't died yet.

I say "fuck this" or "fuck that" or "fuck it all" or "fuck everything" pretty often. I guess that?

Tomorrow will be better; even if it's just not today.

Just the fuckin way she goes boys

"it doesn't really matter" keeps me going

Living in the "self esteem" part of Maslow's pirimid when you are battling basic needs aka allergies, sleep, dehydration, dimentia, etc is a good way to be depressed. Focus on preservation of assets and restoring basic functions.

swearing like an injured sailor under my breath

"Tough times never last, only tough people last. *alien translation*" youtube

*shrug shoulders*
Eh…

I don’t have the vocabulary for a good mantra like most of you. But a shoulder shrug and a “what are you gonna do about it” kind of noise is enough for me.

"one mile at a time, just one mile at a time..."

Or the Maha Mantra

”I can kill myself tomorrow."

Sometimes it means one thing, sometimes another.

The way out is through.

My mantra is just rama rama rama. Meditation with a mantra helps a lot of you put in the work beforehand.

It sounds like you're talking more about a motivational slogan, though. Mine is, "You don't have to want it, you just have to do it." It helps because it frees me from the tyranny of desire. I don't need to figure out if I'm in the mood. I don't need to trick myself into enjoying it. I can just do the thing and be done with it.

Relatedly, there's a line from a favorite book, "Somebody has to and no one else will" with a similar vibe.

From Lord of the Rings: "Not all who wander are lost."

From the Old Kingdom Series: "Does the walker choose the path, or does the path choose the walker?"

Hakuna matata!

Amor fati.

Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage.

"One day at a time. One hour at a time. Let's just get through this one little task."

When I was young life was pure chaos. It was a constant battle and I often looked for things that would ground me and let my mind rest for a bit. I discovered the Peter Gabriel song Washing of the Water. I really liked how he sang it and so I memorized the words. They are good and when its a very dark time for me, the words are a great way for me to gain a little mental peace.

The whole song is beautiful. The perfect balance of wanting calm in hard times and finding peace in the nature of things https://piped.video/watch?v=Ic4N6rT6Qks

The closest I come is "Calgon, take me away."