When in a lull...

If you know me, you know I hate lulls. Times when things are slow, when there isn’t enough to do, when life feels ‘stuck’ or worse! Sad! Hard! Annoying!

I have hated feeling negative feelings my entire life.

In the past, my sole focus was to get rid of them.

First, I would try to ignore them or push them down. They would usually come out in some kind of tantrum or ‘burn it all down’ moment.

That didn’t really work.

So then I tried a different method of ignoring - achieving. I would schedule an awesome trip or go to some cool concert or do something great at work or do something stupid so I’d have a funny story to tell. Anything to deflect the negative feeling.

Works a little, but not sustainable and also not the keys to authentic happiness.

THEN, I would turn to self-help stuff. Bad feeling? Schedule a coaching session! Upset? JOURNAL FOR HOURS!

Valid, helpful, but… here’s the kicker.

Sometimes things are just hard. We go through down periods. We feel a little uncertain of where things are going. There isn’t a ton to ‘do' or ‘fix,’ we just have to ride it out.

So now…. here’s what I do:

I look at the situation. If it warrants some self work, I get that shit in gear. If it doesn’t, I move on to step 2.

I look at the positives of the down period. What can I gain from this?

for me, that means more time to write things like this, and exercise, and finally schedule that spa appointment with my mom that we got for Christmas almost a full year ago, and hang out with the Hen House downstairs

And finally, I look at the lesson. What is it that the higher powers are trying to teach me?

for me, in this instance, it’s about trying too hard to control for things to happen, instead of trusting that everything is working on my behalf to create what is meant to be created… and not getting so neurotic in the process, and crazy about timelines.

And if all else fails…I sit with the feelings. I be sad. I cry. I feel them. And I let them pass through.

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