What The Funk...?!?!?
There is no time like the present to begin writing this one. I have recently been stuck in a major funk and I am finally about to pull myself out of this crapshoot. The crapshoot being a depressive, non-motivated, stressed out state of mind.
Starting school has completely uprooted the entire routine that I had worked so hard to build for myself. That mixed with a bunch of highly unfortunate circumstances that life has thrown around, my self-care has almost gone completely out the window. I am writing this blog post, not only for myself but anyone else who goes through these little funks as well. Seeing that mine is currently happening I figured there is no better time than now.
I don’t care who you are, where you come from, how much money you make, or even how perfect you might think your life is… we all go through our tougher periods and slumps. They often creep up out of nowhere for no rhyme or reason. They’re honestly just a pure fact of life and we all deal with them.
Sometimes it is a physical string of bad luck—if you believe in luck, but sometimes it is just simply that dark cloud that moves in and looms over us. It sucks the joy out of the day. We start to become depressed, negative, and lose motivation. Tasks that were previously easy, become difficult and take more energy than we have to give them. We might become irritable with those around us.
These moments happen in different frequencies for everyone. They may last for different lengths of time, or be of differing severity levels for each person. However they present for you, we have to move at them head on and not allow them to get the best of us. I think it is important to assess if something specific has got us down. Sometimes with depression, this can be a bit more difficult, as there may not be a specific reason.
If there is a specific reason, or multiple… it is important to start working through those reasons; processing each one in a healthy manner. The reality is that these moments will happen on and off throughout life. We need to not only prepare for them, but learn how to work through them in a reasonable way.
Time may be required to get through these moments, and that is okay, but we cannot allow them to fully consume and take over us. If you don’t start to deal with the issue/s at hand, then you’ll likely stay in your rough patch for an extended period.
My belief is that a realistic, simple, and attainable approach to these moments is of utmost importance. With my current funk that I am in, my self-care became almost non-existent. I had lost energy to do the things that I knew I should be doing. Normal tasks seemed much more difficult and taxing than they are on a typical day. It’s necessary to start re-building a routine and getting ourselves stabilized.
This is where a deep focus comes in and is really needed on a few items. First and foremost, Fitness… It’s probably the last thing that you feel like doing, but it is highly necessary to get up and get moving. Go for a walk, light jog, or do a simple home workout or hit the gym. Really push yourself to force through—these times are tough and often the workout will feel pointless, but it’s not. Don’t let your brain trick you into thinking negatively.
The next thing is to ensure that you are getting decent sleep. If you’re like me, your workouts will help cater to some solid sleep. Each person seems to operate off of different levels of “optimal” sleep. Hopefully you have a good idea of what that optimal amount is for you. Key here is to feel rested but to avoid oversleeping. Sleeping too long will likely zap most of your energy and you will feel drained throughout the day.
Along with some good sleep and exercise, make sure you are eating healthy. Through these patches of high stress and/or depression, our bodies will start to crave things that are not good for us. My cravings usually show up in the form of wanting soda, cheeseburgers and donuts… all of my closest friends know this is no joke for me. These cravings are actually a huge red flag and an indicator that I am starting to fall into a slump. If you can catch and correct this before it happens, that’s your best bet, but sometimes that is easier said than done.
When slumps occur, try to maintain a healthy food intake. If you start eating poorly, your body and mind will start to feel worse, and you may start having more negative interactions with your scale and your mirror, making things even worse. When I start to see that I’m moving backward or gaining a lot of weight, I start getting really down on myself.
If you can focus on those three things, fitness, sleep, and healthy eating… you will likely start to feel better, much more rapidly. Outside of these things, I would recommend picking one or two other self-care items that you have found to be helpful for yourself in the past. My extra self-care items are reading and writing. I find them to be highly therapeutic and they help create the feeling of accomplishment as I go.
Whatever it is, stay focused and try to get some support. Grab a close friend, explain to them what is going on, and that you need an accountability partner. This could be simple check-ins to see if you are staying on track, or perhaps even acting as a workout partner to help motivate you.
Once you start to pull out of your funk, it’s good to go full force and build your momentum. Don’t let yourself fall backward again. Stay focused and make sure you have some clear goals set for yourself. We are all in this together, and sometimes we just need a little push to get moving in the right direction—I know I do.
Now… it’s time for me to kick my ass in gear! Hopefully if any of you are in a similar spot, you can do the same. Throw in some comments about what your favorite self-care items are or how you like to pull yourself out of a funk. I’d love to hear what all of you are doing to stay at, or get to your best.
Until next time… Much Love,
Logan August