When Enough is Really Enough

If a man is lucky, he will, at some point in his life, break.

If he is very lucky, he will have several points in his life where he will…

Break.

The time has come for him to say

“Enough is enough.”

The time has come for him to open his eyes and see the the mould growing on the walls.

The time has come for him to stop pinching his nose and breathe in the stench of that’s always been in the air.

The time has come for him to unplug his ears and finally start listening to the alarm bells that have been ringing for millennia.

Pain. Lots of it. An avalanche of it drops it right on your head. Your neck breaks under the weight; your mind breaks from the torment.

You. Break.

Your eyes dart frantically as you look for someone or something to displace all the hurt on. Your mind cycles through a lifetime of thoughts in the space of a second.

Everything is burning, hurting, throbbing.

But there is no one and nothing for you. You may attempt to rummage through your drawer of distractions:

Your phone. Your friends. Food. Drugs. Violence.

But every distraction you look toward only raises your heart rate. Why? Because, this time, nothing will work.

Maybe you’ve been in this spot before. Maybe you start controlling your breathing and execute the ‘stress management’ practices.

But this is something beyond so-called “stress.”

Someone with an overly-firm handshake might cause stress to your fingers. But if someone nails your hand to a piece of wood, batters it with a steel hammer, and then cuts off each finger, your fingers won’t just be stressed.

They will permanently break and die; they cease to be a part of you.

When a man reaches a true breaking point, his body may be live and healthy. Yet, the man you once knew has died.

People often talk about ‘change,’ or ‘self-improvement,’ or ‘personal development.’

These are nice, cute ideas. They give you things to look forward to and to work on. You want to get in better shape, maintain better sleep, grow your wealth, and improve your relationships.

How nice.

There’s just one thing you’ve forgotten. Everything has a price.

People are, generally, happy with who they are: If they really weren’t, they would be someone else. Some might protest this idea and exclaim it’s not just not that simple. Life is hard, and it’s making it difficult for them to be the person they want and have the things they desire.

“Life is hard.”

Really? That’s what you’re going with?

The single-cell organisms from which all life has evolved could have told you this three billion years ago has they fought to survive and reproduce. Yet, here you are in the 21st century saying the same thing.

You cannot truly change by being the same.

A metal object must be first melted down to a liquid before it can adopt a radically new shape.

Once you melt — once you break — then, my friend, you have some hope of actually getting somewhere.

What was the cause this time? Did you get fired? Lose a loved one? Incur a health scare?

If something happens and you tell yourself you’ll get over it, you are, essentially, telling yourself you’ll eventually go back to the old you.

But if you’re imploding with uncontrolled pain and rage, and cannot find a single source of comfort in sight, then, maybe, just maybe, things are actually about to change.

If there is a cushion for you to fall back on, you haven’t truly fallen.

But if your bones shatter from crashing onto the raw concrete, life has given you a chance to let the old you die.

So, how will you proceed? Once the initial pain starts to subside, will you walk backwards? Will you make an attempt to revive your old self?

Or, will you just say:

“F*ck it.”