So you know how it shouldn’t be possible to be too awesome? Or too beautiful? Or too smart? Or too genius at foozball? And yet somehow, no matter what you’re good at, your depression finds a way to make you feel like shit about it?

Either you think you’re not as amazing at ballerinaing as some other person, and that they’ll always be some perfect person out there who’s more amazing at it than you. Or, even better, you think you’re the best at chessing, but that means that everybody will hate you because you’re too good at it. Wait wait, and don’t forget, that no matter what you’re good at, you’ll always be worse than how you were in the past. Note: unfortunately with physical skills in particular, at a certain point, this is true in terms of competitive ability. Hitting the “peak” so to speak.

And all of that is true! No matter how awesome you are, there’s always a downside! Or many! Isn’t that exciting! Yes actually, because it means that surprise surprise, everything is a trade off and sometimes there’s positives and sometimes there’s negatives. And why is that a good thing? Because remember kids, just because there are tons of bad things, that doesn’t mean that the good things have no weight. Maybe not always equal, but often, what you give and what you get level out. So when you’re getting, take it, and fuck guilt. Because soon enough it’ll ebb.

Peaking, is the most hard to get past. Because then you know for a fact that you’re past your prime. And you feel like you’ve lost your awesomeness and you’re just reliving the “glory days.” Thing is… You don’t need to relive them. They’re there, chilling, in the past and you get to own those accomplishments even in the present. Typically if you’re hyper focused on your past achievements it’s not just because they were awesome, it’s also because the present isn’t doing so great. Focusing on nostalgia, the past, those things, is fun on occasion, but when you’re doing it to the extreme it’s often a sign that either your brain is trying to make you dig up a trauma that you need to address, or you’re not taking care of finding things to make your current self happier.

And when you’re flying high, sometimes you can see what’s coming up on the horizon. You know that while right now you’re doing stellar, soon enough, you’ll come down, and possibly it’ll be a crash landing. That’s why preparing when you notice that shit is useful. Investing in some long-term happiness options, whether that’s in literal money, relationships, or sustainable hobbies, is a way to help yourself rest assured that you’ll have some things to feel good about. Not to mention you can always share your experiences with lonelies looking to learn from your greatness. If it’s too late and you’ve already hit ground… Oh wait, there’s no such thing as hitting bottom! You can always be more miserable! Do some damage control and figure out how to be a little better off than where you’re at.

So being the best sucks. Having something to strive for is exciting, and fills us with energy. When you hit mastery, or are just doing awesome in general, there’s a lot of navigation that comes with that. And that’s a challenge in and of itself. Luckily, you’re alive, and bored, so figuring that shit out is just more shit for you to do as a distraction.