How to Get Out of a Despairing Mood

In moments of despair, we may be suffering not from a failure of spirit, but a failure of imagination. The way out lies in exercising our creative capacities.

FURTHER READING

“It may sound strange to locate the problem here, but some of our most despairing moods are caused by failures of the imagination. We are not merely ‘sad’; we cannot picture any better life than the agonised one we currently have. What we really mean by imagination is the power to summon up alternatives. When we are sad, we can’t imagine finding another job; we can’t imagine retraining or shifting profession. We can’t imagine not minding what the gossip says about us. We can’t imagine finding another partner and letting ourselves trust someone again. We can’t imagine getting by in a wheelchair. We can’t imagine living on a very modest budget or relocating to another country. We can’t imagine having to make a completely new set of friends…”

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CREDITS

Produced in collaboration with:

Gabriella Marsh

Title animation produced in collaboration with

Vale Productions

[VerenaSatriani]

You are not your mood, you are not your feeling.. let them come and let them go. You are precious being.

[stories-of-elle]

This vid was literally made for me right at this moment

[crys]

The one thing missing from this great work is that despair is often coupled with fatigue. When you are constantly having to adapt, you can literally feel worn down by life.

[yamaken]

Reading the comments made me realize that im not alone in feeling this way

[SiphoSy]

I was literally going through a stagnant state in life and this gave me the assurance of abundance. That there's a universe of potential and opportunity that I can still explore.

[kkaatiee]

Gotta love School of Life “you could even go mad for a little while if you like”

[enkhnyambattulga]

I live in Mongolia and I'm now 17. This channel has been like a good brother that I always needed in difficult and uncertain times. Your advices have really helped me be more confident. I started volunteering, my relationship with my family got better, started learning a new language, learned to code, picked up a sport, and my grades were never better. You have taught me to always keep on trying without taking my little life too seriously. I try to enjoy things. I plan on studying in Europe. And I hope to one day meet you in person and just thank you. Just letting you know that your outreach is global even in our small country. :)

[WisdomWealth]

Sometimes when things are falling apart they may actually be falling into place. 💞

[dereksilvers]

THE SCHOOL OF LIFE IS A LEGENDARY CHANNEL!

[TheDhammaHub]

As Heisenberg once noticed: "the process of observing influences the system". When we truly start _observing_ what our bad moods consist of, we weaken them. That's one of the basic mechanisms behind meditation!

[samtonks]

Strange timing, I was literally cornered into a hopeless cycle of anger about 15 minutes ago. I’m now feeling cured

[theflip]

Man, I just got in a big fight with my boss yesterday, lost my job and was so mad/anxious. I don’t know how y’all read my mind but this helped. ✌️

[MsTuliplady]

1:35 "we can even go mad for a while, and then recover... A lot of people do"

Some of the most important words ever said. Most of the people I know, including myself... Have gone mad. Only time is able to sort that out, but it's such a valid state of mind, one easily dismissed and ridiculed, but oftentimes so insightful, and life changing. Oftentimes for the better. Just another chapter...

[eveneals]

The fact that I don't really have to suffer makes me feel ashamed for me suffering anyway

[dominiquepereira]

"What would I do differently in my life?" I think I'd probably be a whole lot kinder to those who really loved me. And let go, a whole lot sooner, those who didn't. :(

[ash.mystic]

I appreciate that this video is less than 5 minutes long. It’s difficult to focus and put in effort on large tasks when feeling depressed. Thanks for this inspiration 🙏

[TanvirAhmed]

Sometimes life passes us by so fast that it feels as though we are sitting in a train with our life sliding by like the scenery outside the window. With our busy schedules we tend to rush from obligation to obligation. Some days, we enter our office while it is dark in the morning, and don’t leave until it is dark outside again at night. We can start to feel like we are in a rut, and our life is being determined by others. We feel like we have no choice but to oblige the guidelines others set for us.

[BeckyTheButterfly]

Mind boggling how these videos come out just at the right time.
Literally had to have a therapy session just YESTERDAY to talk about this very thing going on. Life is currently a blank page for me, starting over once again.
Currently sitting in bed, having a difficult time imagining the good things and places that are yet to come from me being here.

[PracticalInspiration]

As adults we have the freedom to choose the life we lead, but equally need to bear the responsibility of the choices that we make

[-ahmed]

I am 16 years old and I cannot imagine my life without the school of life. Thank you very much. You helped me build my character more than anyone else in this small planet thank you alain de botton