Do you ever catch signs that you are slowly falling into a funk?
Sometimes I catch signs such as:
- losing interest in things
- being extremely irritable
- feeling anti-social
- not wanting to take care of my body
- wanting to sleep all the time
- feeling defensive and cranky
The question is, once we’ve noticed the signs, how do we avoid falling into a full fledged funk? This is something I’ve been trying to figure out for eight years.
I’ve noticed that if I develop a plan of reaction to each sign of falling into a funk, it helps. It gives me tools to use when I realize I am not feeling like myself. Now, I completely prefer preventitive actions to reactive actions, but for now, this is the best I can do.
When I first notice the signs of falling into a funk, I tell myself to pause and look at the bigger picture. Is the reason for my funk right in front of me? Is there an issue I have been avoiding? If it’s situational, and I can nip my unease in the butt by addressing the issue, I try to. Otherwise, I address each sign one by one until I work my way out of the funk. Click “more” if you’d like to read examples of my plans of reaction.
What are your tips on how to avoid falling into a funk? Do you ever catch signs that you are? What are your signs?
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Health + Fitness, Life
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angry, anti-social, anxiety, anxious, bored, control, cranky, defensive, Depression, emotional, family, fitness, food, friends, funk, happiness, happy, Health, issue, Mental Health, preventative, reactive, sad, sadness, sleep, sleeplessness, sleepness, tired, upset
… I just want to go to bed.
I’m not sure if I am ready for another dark and cold season. Each year I try to come up with a new way to deal with it, but I always feel a little crummy overall. I suppose last year’s method of keeping myself purposefully busy helped somewhat. I’ll try that again.
Life
| bed, cold, dark, Depression, Fall, SADD, sadness, season, sleep, tired, Winter
I hate that I wear my heart on my sleeve, therefore making every emotion I am feeling obvious.
Last week, a coworker said, “Hey! You seem happy today.” I was happy that day. The last few times she’d seen me, I’d been very stressed or sad.
Yesterday, I ran into my mentor in the hallway of my building. I just said hello, and from that, he asked “what’s wrong?” He could hear the stress and panic in my voice.
And the worst example – a few of my college friends are visiting this weekend, and one just called me and said, “It seemed like you are kind of stressed out in the last few emails you sent. You seem worried about what we will do while we are there and what we will eat. We just want to see you and relax! We can just sit on the couch all weekend and eat whatever, it doesn’t matter!”
I wanted to cry when she called. She was trying to reassure me, but knowing that my stress was so obvious just made me feel worse.
Life
| chicago, couch, coworker, Depression, food, friends, hang out, mentor, obvious, relax, sadness, Visit, wear my heart on my sleeve, Work + Design
I just realized I am completely unexcited about something I should be very excited about right now.
In fact, I don’t think I would be too upset if the event were canceled.
That makes me feel really sad.
What’s wrong with me?!
Please let this just be a phase.
December is full of celebrations, family get-togethers, and days off from work… then January hits and NOTHING is going on.
I distinctly remember spending most of LAST January’s weeknights and weekends on my couch, watching DVDs, and probably eating something.
As awesome as that is, I really hope I don’t let that happen again this year. It’s fun for one day (like yesterday, where I stayed in my pajamas until 8:00 pm when I put on clothes to exercise), but then it just becomes an addicting cycle of doing nothing that makes me feel worse and worse about myself.
I like to have something to look forward to. I know I am supposed to live in the moment and all that, but having something to look forward to gets me going through the day.
So what I am looking forward to this winter?
- Our trip to the Bahamas at the end of January. HA HA, JUST KIDDING! I WISH! HA!
- A (real) trip to Denver to see friends and try skiing for the first time.
- A weekly fencing class that runs until the middle of May.
- A gun safety class in January (okay, I just had to put that one on there to be funny).
- A 4-day weekend in both January and February.
- On-going half marathon training.
- A game night with friends?
- Seeing friends and family? Nothing is set in stone, but I always look forward to that.
Yeah, it’s a pretty lame list, but it’s all I got. Anything on yours? Or are you able to make it through the winter blahs without one?
Life
| December, Denver, Depression, gun safety, guns, Holidays, January, Running, sadness, skiing, training, Travel, Winter Blahs
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