Fighting Back When You Are Feeling Down
Last week, a friend from church shared with me that she was in a “funk.” That was the first time I had heard that word.
What she meant was that she was feeling down and was unable to pick herself up from her slump. She wasn’t sure why and she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. (We talked for a while and had a good laugh– I think that helped.)
A few days later, Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy posted an article about getting out of funks.
It is wise (for all involved! :))to try to understand and predict our own behaviors.
We are spirits with a body, but our body totally affects us.
Our thoughts also have a huge affect on our bodies.
And women who know their own weaknesses are more apt to overcome them and to keep themselves from being stuck in an unwanted rut and making the same mistakes over and over again.
When we are tired, lonely, hormonal, hurt, angry, overwhelmed or just plain disappointed in life–when we are in a funk (“low spirits” was the old english term for all of you Jane Austen fans out there.)–we should not sit by helplessly.
We should proactively try to understand our own weakness.
I was once whining telling a friend that I couldn’t seem to get victory over a certain struggle.
After some listening, she said “Do you think it’s hormonal? Sarah, don’t try to evaluate your life right now. You’ll only get discouraged. Just do the next right thing. You can evaluate your life next week.”
She was right. I was not in the frame of mind for introspection, and it was fast becoming morbid. 🙂 It was dragging me down. She helped me to see that pattern in my life, and now I know better.
Do you recognize your triggers like tiredness, too much running around, whining children, too tight finances, too much chocolate or caffeine, unhealthy eating, etc.
What do you do to combat those feelings?
I’ll tell you what helps me:
1. Pin up Scripture to take my rediculous thoughts captive.
2. Go out to lunch or sit with a friend.
3. Spend time walking or exercising.
4. Plan for a change of scenery: head to the beach, go to the park with the kids.
5. Talk to my mother.
6. Say Yes, Lord.
How about you? What do you do? Do you catch it early, or do you figure it out after the fact and suffer helplessly through it?
I have to remind myself that we all have times of feeling down and that it isn’t that there is “something wrong with me”. I actually think that feeling downcast is sometimes a good thing that causes us to look outside of ourselves. I have been downcast for many reasons…just like you have mentioned, but sometimes it is because I have become self-absorbed and I need to physically get up and serve those around me. This has been my experience. 🙂
I don’t think I’d ever feel down again if I looked like the girl in the picture, lol!
Lately, I’ve been learning to pick up a good fiction book and read for 10 or 15 minutes. It gets my mind off my troubles, sort of like pressing my reset button. Then, as you suggest, I can do the next right thing, and gradually I emerge from my funk.