Discouragement is an easy thing to let infiltrate our spirit. It can happen so quickly. A thought. A word (or not a word) from someone. The flash of a memory. Through a song. And there we go, falling into an abyss of self-criticism and self-doubt. And then sometimes, it’s insidious, slowly advancing in the shadows, but lingering around the corner for just the right moment to lob a self-deprecating thought into our mind. Ouch.
(So how’s that for a pick-me-up? You’re thinking,” I thought your writings were for sh*ts and giggles. All Zen and stuff.” Contraire my little grasshoppa. Our blogs have serious as well as a humorous aspects and you just never know what you’re going to get. So, don’t leave yet. Or I’ll totally be discouraged.)
But isn’t it true? We can be humming along and niggle, niggle, knock, knock – Dudley Discouragement sets in and spirals us into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Six ounces heavier and even more discouraged at our behavior, we enter our fort – where it’s in everyone’s best interests not to enter. At least not yet.
While hidden away, these become our recurring mantra “fort thoughts” and that internal voice is up to no good, I tell ya’.
“I can’t” “What will people think” “What do people think” “This is a waste” “Why do I care” “Who cares” “I’m giving up”
Niggle, niggle. So what’s the answer? Soak in it, get all pruney about your discouragement, think through it and then find something (music, journaling, a book, nature, a friend – whatever speaks to you) to help pull you out of the funk of discouragement. But go ahead and soak! Soaking in it brings realizations and new ways of thinking to the surface and enlightenment will eventually replace discouragement. So go on, grab your Ben & Jerry’s, soak in a bath, soak in all of your thoughts, get pruney and I’ll see you after you’re all dried off.
Zenitude for today:
Soak in it, get all pruney, spiral into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s – and allow some awesome realizations to surface.