what I learned from feeling "blah" this week
(5-minute read)
This past Tuesday was just one of those days.
You know how sometimes you just feel “blah” and all you want to do is numb out with some comfort food, binge watch Netflix, and sleep? Yup, that was me earlier this week.
I felt dreary and dull compared to my typical energized and high voltage self. I had no good reason why either, just one of those days! I felt blocked creatively, stagnant, and uninspired. Simply ‘off.’ I just wanted to check out and ignore the feelings through a myriad of distractions.
I’ve been working on noticing these emotions that come up throughout the days so I can intervene. Because I know any momentary comfort from a “distraction binge” is interrupted by a terrible night of sleep and the feelings of shittiness rolling right into the next day, ever more present.
I wanted to shift the momentum before the train kept gaining steam down the tracks in this direction.
I took to my first line of defense and opened up to the trusty confidant that I find in my journal, but after scribbling a page or two, I didn’t feel much better. Still stagnant. The train rolled right on, flattening that attempt like a silver dollar carefully placed on the tracks. So I took to my second line of defense – movement – and signed up for an evening yoga class with my roommate.
After I finally finished my work for the day, I was zapped. Totally drained, and my feelings of “bleh” had escalated into definite frustration. My urge to just close in for the night and lay down started to convince me to not go to yoga. I was coming up with every excuse and reason not to go and landed on a decision to plan on skipping it. I didn’t feel like going.
But my roommate had already committed and was going with or without me, and I wasn’t about to bail on him and not go. So I shlepped my tired body into the car with him and off to yoga we went. Little did I know the course of my day and week was about to radically change.
After arriving to my mat, I knew that I was right where I needed to be. I introduced myself to my neighbors as I always do, so I can apologize ahead of time for the puddle of sweat that might intrude on their space through the 60-minute heated power vinyasa class. Surface level conversation with the woman on my left took a torpedo dive into the deep end when I uncovered that she’s from Honduras originally. When I got out my shovel and dug a level deeper, we landed on the grounds of gratitude for this life that we get to live. She was sharing how incredibly blessed she is to be living here in LA now and how good we have it relative to the rest of the world. I mean we are in a yoga studio in downtown Santa Monica on a Tuesday night after all! The top 1% of 1% of the human population. That subtle reminder of relativity instantly zapped me back into a state of gratitude and set the stage for the beautiful practice to come.
Over the course of the next hour I flowed. I was able to leave my day and everything else behind to simply BREATHE and move my body. Just what the doctor ordered. Pumping intentional, deep breathes of oxygen through my body, I began to shed the feelings of shittiness with each bead of sweat that dripped off of my body.
I walked away from that class on an absolute high, soaked in presence, drenched in gratitude, overwhelmed with bliss, infused with inspiration, and reinvigorated with energy. I ditched the heavy weight of “blah” that I walked in with, and now wore a calm that I forgot I had in my wardrobe. The train stopped dead in it tracks. I knew that the momentum was now shifted.
After a restful night of sleep, I woke up feeling on one. Invigorated, excited, energized, and alive. And I’ve been riding that train through the rest of my week full steam ahead.
Takeaways:
[1] Acknowledging you are feeling a shitty is the first step to actually doing something about it shifting the situation.
Don’t run away from the shitty feelings, lean into them. It happens. To all of us. It’s part of this whacky human experience, and the more we can get accept that and not beat ourselves up for it, the better we can handle it and truly heal through it. There’s strength and honesty in admitting it and not putting on a “everything’s fine” front. Don’t numb out and turn external drugs, alcohol, food, and Netflix to fill the void – turn inward. Sit with yourself for a moment. Journal it out. Meditate. Take some deep breaths and focus on that introspection, you might be surprised and what you learn.
[2] You are responsible for your own health and happiness, no one else.
It’s up to YOU to setup ‘lines of defense,’ as I call them, to take action that will help you get back on track. Don’t dwell in the shittiness, focus 5% on the problem and 95% on the solution. Go for a run. Hit a yoga class. Take a walk around the block. Dance to your happy song full blast. Take a dip in the ocean. Break a sweat and shake it off (Shoutout T-swift, you’re still my girl)! It’s much easier to be proactive about taking care of yourself than it is to be reactive. So much of our mindset is “I don’t feel well, what do I do now?” But when we can shift it to “how can I ensure that I continue to feel good” we can sustain the good feelings for much longer. Momentum is a force multiplier, and YOU are responsible for how you direct it.
[3] Friendpower is stronger than willpower.
If my roommate wasn’t going to yoga, I wouldn’t have gone. Leverage friendpower and external accountability to help push you forward when you don’t feel like it. Willpower is a finite resource. There’s only so much of it you have on a daily basis. Especially at the end of the day when your batteries are running low it’s easy to give in. It’s always those times that you need it the most, and you will thank yourself for after.
[4] Don’t forget to take your daily dose of gratitude.
It’s impossible to feel angry and grateful at the same time. The fact of the matter is that if you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world. That’s over 5.6 BILLION people. A little relative reality check goes a long way to reframe your situation.
[5] You don’t have to feel 100% to show up 100%.
This is a big takeaway I’ve learned through the past 2 years as serving as Director of Operations for a high-growth coaching company. At the end of the day, it’s not about me – it’s about the people I’m here to serve. It’s about showing up for my clients and team even when I’m not feeling 100%. You can still be productive and do what you need to do even if you don’t “feel like it.” If we only did things when we felt like it we wouldn’t get a whole lot done! Have a “why” that’s bigger than yourself, and in the times of “blah” hold it close!