I Escaped a Near-Death Situation

Hailstorm 2026-10-08 3 views en

I didn't actually escape death—but I did have a few moments that made me realize how easily we can waste the life we already have. The modern world makes distraction incredibly easy, while the things that genuinely keep us healthy, grounded, and moving forward are often surprisingly simple. These are six lessons I wish I had taken seriously much earlier.

Six Things I Wish I Had Taken Seriously Earlier

Some lessons sound almost too simple to matter.

Sleep early. Read books. Practice your faith. Put limits on your phone. Stay away from aggressive people. Learn to calm yourself.

But I have started to realize that these simple things can make a surprisingly large difference in how you experience life.

Here are six things I think are worth taking seriously.

1\. Sleep before 11 p\.m\.

If there is one habit I would put above almost everything else, it would be this: protect your sleep.

The digital world makes staying awake incredibly easy. You can scroll, watch videos, play games, read random things, and keep consuming content long after you should have gone to bed.

The problem is that none of it changes reality.

Whatever problem you were escaping from is still there in the morning. The only thing that has changed is that you have spent several more hours of your life avoiding it.

Sleep is not laziness or wasted time. Your brain and body depend on it for recovery, memory, mood, and normal biological functioning. Your circadian rhythm also matters, which is one reason a consistently sensible sleep schedule is worth protecting.

So set a boundary.

Try to be asleep before 11 p.m.

Don't let a glowing rectangle decide when your day ends.

2\. Read physical books

Get some real books.

Not just textbooks for exams. Read about psychology, philosophy, history, self-improvement, science, biographies—whatever genuinely interests you.

And yes, I specifically mean physical books sometimes.

There is something different about sitting down with a book and staying with one subject instead of constantly jumping between notifications, recommendations, comments, and short videos.

A good book can give you an idea that stays in your head for years.

But be selective. "Self-help" does not automatically mean "good." Some books contain genuinely useful ideas; others are mostly repetition and marketing.

Find the ones that actually improve the way you think and live.

3\. Don't neglect your faith

If you believe in God or belong to a religious tradition, actually practice it.

Don't let religion become merely a label.

Faith can give you a framework for dealing with guilt, failure, suffering, responsibility, forgiveness, and uncertainty. It can also remind you to show compassion toward other people and not be unnecessarily harsh toward yourself.

You don't need to turn your beliefs into a competition with everyone else's beliefs. Just take them seriously enough to live by them.

For me, one of the valuable things about faith is the reminder that life is bigger than whatever happens to be bothering you at this particular moment.

4\. Download a screen\-time controller

This one is especially important today.

Actually download a screen-time controller.

Don't assume that having enough willpower will always be sufficient. Modern apps are designed around capturing attention, and recommendation algorithms can make it extremely easy to keep consuming content without consciously deciding to do so.

Tools such as ScreenZen or Regain can add friction between you and the apps that consume too much of your time.

Set limits. Add delays. Block apps during certain hours if necessary.

The important thing is to stop treating every minute spent online as if it were automatically a minute well spent.

A video can look educational. A post can look interesting. A recommendation can look harmless.

And suddenly an hour is gone.

Your attention is one of the few resources you cannot replenish. Once a day has passed, you cannot get that day back.

So protect your attention deliberately.

5\. Stay away from unnecessarily aggressive people

You do not have to remain close to everyone you meet.

Some people repeatedly create conflict, behave aggressively, manipulate others, or turn ordinary situations into unnecessary drama.

You cannot always change those people—and trying to do so can cost you a lot of peace.

Distance is sometimes the sensible option.

This does not mean becoming suspicious of everyone or refusing to forgive people who make ordinary mistakes. It means learning to recognize patterns and deciding what kind of environment you want around yourself.

You don't need to win every confrontation.

Sometimes the smartest move is simply to walk away from the cycle.

6\. Learn breathing and calming techniques

This sounds almost ridiculously simple, but breathing exercises can actually be useful.

When you're stressed, angry, overwhelmed, or mentally scattered, deliberately slowing down and controlling your breathing can give you a moment before you react.

It isn't magic, and it won't solve the underlying problem by itself.

But learning how to calm yourself is a useful skill.

You cannot control everything that happens around you.

You can, however, become better at controlling your response.

The power of small habits

There is another lesson connecting all of this: small habits are much more powerful than occasional bursts of effort.

This is one of the ideas explored in Atomic Habits: meaningful change often comes from repeatedly doing small things rather than waiting for motivation and attempting a massive transformation overnight.

This matters enormously for students.

You cannot reliably save an entire semester with one all-nighter before the exam.

You might memorize some material. You might even manage to pass. But trying to compress weeks or months of learning into one night is a terrible system.

The night before the exam should be for reviewing what you have already learned—not trying to build the entire foundation from zero.

Study a little regularly. Review what you learned. Sleep properly. Come back to difficult topics. Repeat.

The same principle applies outside academics.

You don't become healthier from one perfect day.

You don't become knowledgeable from reading one book.

You don't develop discipline from one burst of motivation.

You don't regain control of your attention by deleting an app for one afternoon.

The small things become powerful when you keep doing them.

The bigger lesson

None of these habits will make life perfect.

But they protect things that are incredibly easy to lose: sleep, attention, time, faith, peace, and self-control.

And modern life is exceptionally good at taking those things from you without you noticing.

You don't necessarily lose your time in one dramatic event.

You lose it five minutes at a time.

You don't necessarily lose your attention all at once.

You give it away one scroll at a time.

And you don't necessarily fail because you lacked intelligence.

Sometimes you simply waited until the last possible moment to use it.

So build some defenses.

Sleep before 11.

Read something worthwhile.

Practice what you believe.

Put limits on your phone.

Choose your company carefully.

Learn how to calm your own mind.

And most importantly, start small and keep going.

These things are simple.

That doesn't mean they're insignificant.

I Escaped a Near-Death Situation

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