The Weighted Path of Survival Mode | by Sag Hopes ♡ | Nov, 2025
Liora feels like she’s been stuck in survival mode for a long time and here’s why.
Big Ideas Get Cut Short
Every time she starts to figure out what she wants from life, she has to drop it to deal with whatever’s right in front of her. Or worse she rushes through it, burns out, and loses her spark altogether.
Survival Mode Takes Over
When survival mode kicks in, she thinks only about immediate needs… but not clearly. The pressure gets so heavy she freezes, and whispers “what’s the point?” and eventually quits. She hates job hopping. She wants to be able to settle like everyone else seems to. But she can’t seem to make herself stay in a life she doesn’t enjoy.
Trying, Failing, Trying Again
She’s tried so many things that didn’t work, not because they were wrong, but because survival mode swallowed them before they could grow. She knows she’s lucky to have support, but even with help, being stuck feels exhausting and confusing. Some days she feels like “a big kid with small responsibilities.” Other days she imagines having more responsibilities and feels like nothing would change. What she does know is that repeating the cycle of working just to survive doesn’t feel like living.
Afraid to Settle, Yet Uncertain to Escape
It frightens her to think of the idea that so many people just settle for lives they don’t enjoy. She doesn’t want that. But she also doesn’t know how to force herself into a version of life that feels wrong. She’s non-traditional with big hopes, she just doesn’t know what those hopes are for yet.
A Small, Quiet Beginning
What remains is Liora notices one thing: she keeps trying. Even when she’s tired. Even when she doesn’t know what she wants. That small persistence, those tiny sparks, are enough to tell her she’s not done yet.
Maybe purpose isn’t discovered all at once. Maybe it’s found slowly, in the moments when she chooses not to give up. She’s still searching. But she’s no longer searching alone. And that’s a beginning.
