I don’t know where it’s gone. One week it’s here, perfectly
intact and then all of a sudden, poof! It’s disappeared. What have I mislaid
this time I hear you ask? Well, it’s my mojo. It has gone AWOL.
Maybe it’s to do with the nights drawing in, as winter
looms. Perhaps it’s the autumn nip in the air, letting us know that summer is
well and truly over. All that’s left of the highly anticipated summer of 2013
is a few shells that my four year old strategically places just where I will
step on them, a few squashed ice lollies in the bottom of the freezer and a
bucket full of sand that has worked its way into every nook, cranny and groove
of my car.
My post holiday blues, combined with exhaustion from parenting overload as a result of feeding, taxiing, refereeing, cleaning up after and
entertaining my four kids twenty-four seven for six weeks has left me feeling
rather flat. Not to mention the way in which my bank balance has been drained
to dangerously low proportions. Emotionally, I feel that I have worked my way
through the character traits of each of Christopher Robbins' woodland friends, from the
bounciness of Tigger at the start of the holidays, to the relaxed demeanour of
Pooh whilst sunning myself on the beaches of Northern France; only to end up
like Eeyore, muttering to myself about things I can’t remember or find.
I don’t think it helps that I am starting to feel my age. As
the saying goes, I miss being the age when I thought that by the age I am now,
I’d have life figured out and have ‘it’ altogether. How naive I was. I am also
in disbelief that friends who I graduated from High School with are now
becoming grandparents! How can this be happening?! To top it off, my eyesight
is deteriorating and I have had to get reading glasses. It is indeed a slippery
slope once you teeter over the edge of 40.
Now, while this is my current thinking on my reality, I know
that my feelings are just passing emotions that send my mind on a wild goose
chase of what ifs, what could have beens and if onlys. I am assuming that I’m not
the only one that feels this way sometimes. So, what can we do to get out of
this slump? Here’s my list of ideas that
will help us to get our mojo back.
1. Spend time with friends. Little things they say
can light the spark in us and get us up off our sorry butt so that we are
motivated to start or finish projects, set and work towards achieving goals and
generally help us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves.
2. Listen to upbeat, happy music which puts a smile
on our face and makes us want to dance around our kitchen, wooden spoon in hand
and throw our hips about.
3. Have a clear out; de-clutter drawers, closets,
boxes, rooms. There’s nothing like it for mentally helping us to achieve the
whole ‘out with the old, in with the new’ mentality. Creating space physically
helps us to prepare mentally for new experiences and opportunities.
4. Read positive literature and surround ourselves
with positive thinking people; what goes in will come out. Simple but oh so
very true. People who ‘can’t be doing with positive thinking, inspirational
claptrap’, can be shown the door. (metaphorically if nothing else)
5. Get out your diary and plan some fun things to
do. There’s nothing like having a few meet ups with good friends, or loved ones
planned to lift our spirits. It gives us something to look forward to.
6. Spend time in prayer and start a gratitude journal.
Listing everything that we are thankful for each day will certainly make us
appreciate how blessed we are.
7. Exercise; take up a new work- out routine, play
tennis, swim or just go for a run or walk. Exercise helps to release
endorphins, hormones which make us feel good.
8. Make a conscious decision to get out of the funk
we are in, be happy and just get on with things.
Happy September all! Now I shall
attempt to take my own advice. Watch this space, mojo loading.
*Disclaimer: If you may be
suffering from depression, please seek medical advice.
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