When we wake up every morning, this is a wide range of options available to us, and we only see a tiny sliver of them. When we do the same thing we did yesterd

When we wake up every morning, this is a wide range of options available to us, and we only see a tiny sliver of them. When we do the same thing we did yesterday, we will see that option more clearly tomorrow, and other options less clearly. Our agency narrows. When our options have narrowed too much, it can be hard to get unstuck. Hard to get out of the rut. Wake up, go to work, consume content, go to bed. Every day. Sometimes we might dream of other options, but they don't seem attainable, they're just too distant. I think the only way to expand your options is to actually do new things. The new thing becomes more salient, and the next day you might see more than one option. Build up more ways to be. Some activities are worse than others about further narrowing your options, and some can help expand your options beyond just becoming more salient themselves. Scrolling endless content never lets me get bored, never lets me think of something else to do, and doing something else is always a bit harder than continuing to scroll. There's a clear similarity to drug addiction, where options narrow until to just doing that drug all the time, and being wasted on the drug doesn't do anything to expand your options. Going for a run expands my options. I get a bit bored on the run, and my mind can wander. I can reflect, and may choose to do something new tomorrow. Journaling expands my options. Practicing gratitude can expand my options. Meditating can expand my options. Talking to a therapist can expand my options. All that mental health stuff shares something in common here, it lets me break the cycle of narrowing options and narrowing agency, and instead widen my options a little.