Depression

Jaded

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Becoming jaded, ceasing to see life as a miracle, feeling like the novelty has worn off, is a state that many adults find themselves in without really knowing how or when it happened. They yearn for those experiences from their youth where everything seemed new, colorful, and limitless but they don’t know how to recapture that innocent curiosity. They’ve been there, done that, and they have just kind of given up and accepted that life doesn’t have anything more in store for them.

If we think of zest for life as a raging bonfire we can think of being jaded as smoldering ashes. But that means the embers are still there, waiting to be fanned, and even if the fire has gone out there’s still hope for you because as we all know every fire grows from that first single spark. Something seemingly small and insignificant, when surrounded by the proper conditions, can grow into something quite powerful.

Using this metaphor in the context of trying to revive your zest for life, it becomes obvious that the first step is to accept your state of mind for how it is instead of yearning for a time and place that is long gone and not coming back. People change, we learn and grow, and it’s okay that what excited you as a kid doesn’t excite you anymore. What you want to do is look for and appreciate those sparks, those little perks of interest, and add fuel to them right away instead of just letting them die out because you don’t believe they are significant enough to count for anything.

If you think in these terms you might open up as you consider pursuing any and all activities that perk your interest. Any curiosity, however small, is a good thing when you are combating feeling jaded, and you’re dooming yourself to staying jaded by letting this curiosity fall by the wayside simply because it doesn’t fit your old criteria for what excitement and curiosity are.