I don’t know about you, but sometimes when things hit a rough patch, the first things that I start to put off are the very things I need to make a priority. This blog for example, I use this blog to share my knowledge and sometimes analyze how I am feeling.
When I take a couple days off(or week) I think about it daily. I then find myself saying I will do it tomorrow. The longer I let it go the easier it is to let it go. I will say “OK, seriously tomorrow get back at it.” Tomorrow comes and I again say tomorrow. If I had the answer to why we put the things off that we know we need to do, I’d have my own television show.
What I do know is this. Sometimes a rough day can lead into a serious funk, the type of funk that keeps you worrying about things rather than acting upon them. Whether we feel like it or not the only way to get over setbacks is to get moving again.
This past week I managed to injure myself while training and get sick as well. I took a few days off and started to feel better. Rather than jump back into my routine I let fear take hold. The thought’s that have stifled me in the past came racing back to the front of my mind. “Every time you get in a groove this happens.” “Be careful, you might hurt yourself more.” “You fell off track again.” These thoughts paralyzed me for a while. Although they may have a grain of truth, they do not have to dictate how I react to them.
I found myself not sleeping, not eating, and then overeating. It is almost as if I was trying to reinforce my negative thoughts with negative behaviors. The more we reinforce negative thoughts with negative behaviors, the more negative we become.
Here is the million dollar question: How do you pull yourself out of it? I’ll give you my fifty cent answer. Just get over it. The blessing that we have in life is that each day presents itself for a new start. If you have been in a funk you can put a stop to it when you want to. On the other hand you can prolong it for as long as you want as well.
For me, it is a matter of knowing what to do and then acting. These past couple of weeks have been rough but I choose not to continue. I am going to do the things I know I need to do in order to feel well and live well. How about you?
#1 by JojaJogger - May 18th, 2010 at 20:24
I recently got out of a five day funk myself. I finally resorted to the Nike cliche and “just did it”. I did lose some cardio fitness over that short amount of time, and it was almost more difficult to recover from that break than it has been to recover from a marathon. So, next time I find myself getting into a funk, I’ll try reminding myself that the shorter the break is, the easier it will be to get back to previous levels.