Happy March!! I know, it has been forever since I’ve published anything. I let my life get in the way and forgot how good it felt to write. So here I am to remind you that you will always find your way back to yourself.
Sometimes when I am on my phone tooo much, or into a book series really heavily, or binging a show, I forget that I am a person outside of that mindless consumption. I become what I am consuming and forget who I am, what I like, what feels good for me. I took a two month break from my workout class just because I had a busy two months and in that time I somehow dropped all of my hobbies. I took away one pillar of my life and the rest of it followed. Looking back now, I can see that working out is a necessity for me, but I didn’t know it at the time. I also didn’t use to work out at all, so realizing this about myself now felt invigorating. I CAN change, I can grow, I can become who I want to be.
I don’t think it is uncommon to get in a slump, or a funk, or just a mood where all you want to do every day is sit on the couch. and maybe stare at the ceiling. I don’t know. Maybe it isn’t normal, but I am certainly a repeat offender.
My number one trick to getting out of a slump and back into my groove is to have a reference sheet of things I know I like to do. And force myself to do something on it. I have a notebook and every few pages I have a list of all the things I like to do, as a reminder. Sometimes when I actually end up doing the things, I really enjoy them. Sometimes I don’t. But what matters is that I did it. And the more I do it, the more I remember that I enjoy it. I’m forcing myself through a book right now. I am enjoying it, a lot, actually, and yet it still feels like an assignment. That is just how life is sometimes. I’ll be really glad I read it once I finish.
Making plans is my other saving grace. For years my MO was to cancel plans if I didn’t feel like going or just had a weird vibe or felt lazy. Now, I try with everything in me not to cancel on plans. I will say, I may procrastinate saying yes until the very last second but, yes, I do usually agree to plans now too.
The best thing I’ve learned for my mental health is to treat it like it has no choice but to flourish. If I start to wallow, I will wallow for eons. I have a playlist called “singing in the shower” and I’ll play it on repeat. And cry.
I’ve stopped playing that playlist. And my life is better for it.
When I don’t feel like myself, which still happens when it is sunny every day, btw, I manually input my personality. I take a reference sheet from my journal, and little by little I come back to life.
