Rock Bottom

A lot of people talk about having reached rock bottom, but I'm skeptical of a lot of them. They talk about it in a sense where they still haven't lost that which they desire--the same desire that's supposed to have led them to their rock bottom.

Being at rock bottom is a curious sensation. You give up a lot of things. You give up especially on those things which you hold dear. The problem I have with some people claiming to have reached rock bottom is that they seem to come out a "better" or "stronger" version of themselves... I don't think that is ever the case.

We surrender to our predicament, but we don't come out having a resolution to it. Whether the resolution comes (it *does happen) is irrelevant. Because at rock bottom, you stop to care. You've given up totally that you're happy whether the resolution comes or not!

A metaphor that I can think of is like this: Imagine a person whose wrists are shackled for a significantly long time. They fight their way out, but can't. Until one day, they just stop fighting, and stops fighting their predicament. At this point, they've hit rock bottom. In this moment, they are at peace with their situation. No more fighting the story that they shouldn't be shackled.

Now, whether they somehow free themselves or not... does not matter to them. They're at peace either way. But it does not mean they won't try to help unshackle themselves.

Finally, I have found two quotes that somehow speak to that state of rock bottom:

"It is a curious sensation: the sort of pain that goes mercifully beyond our powers of feeling. When your heart is broken, your boats are burned: nothing matters any more. It is the end of happiness and the beginning of peace.."
--George Bernard Shaw

"What I know about dying is that when there's no escape, when you know that no one is coming to save you, there's no fear... You no longer have anything to lose. And in that peace, there is only you."
--Byron Katie