I am wondering how others stay motivated or postive? I like to think I'm a positive person, but lately have been feeling burned out. Financially we are doing ok, not great but not bad.....family is back together in one place. So, I have lots to be thankful for....just kind of bummed out....Any suggestions to kick this feeling?
How do you stay motivated/positive???
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
Joined
·
8,935 Posts
No real good advice for you except: know that its "OK" to be down and out once in a while. You're human and need a break too. No one can be THAT positive all the time - if they are, then they're lying and its not healthy.
If that means breaking down and crying...go for it. I feel better after I do and I am able to re-focus on things again and give it my "all" and with "mucho gusto"! Don't worry - things have a way of sorting themselves out.
If that means breaking down and crying...go for it. I feel better after I do and I am able to re-focus on things again and give it my "all" and with "mucho gusto"! Don't worry - things have a way of sorting themselves out.
Joined
·
2,168 Posts
If I feel like something's too big for me to handle, or I'm emotionally stuck, I pray and give the situation/emotional unmanageability to God. I'm not Christian but I do believe in a Higher Power. If I find myself worrying or in that feeling again, I pray again. I find when I do this it does help.
Like Libby said, sometimes you need that release you get from crying. Depends on where you're at on your emotional barometer. Sit quietly by yourself, when you have some alone time and listen to yourself and ask yourself what you need. When you get your answer, give that to yourself. (((hugs)))
Like Libby said, sometimes you need that release you get from crying. Depends on where you're at on your emotional barometer. Sit quietly by yourself, when you have some alone time and listen to yourself and ask yourself what you need. When you get your answer, give that to yourself.
(((hugs)))I agree with Libby's post. Also, are you getting enough sunshine (at least some)? Makes a big difference to me this time of year.
Another thing that helps me is to get moving physically. I don't mean train for a marathon, but just stretch out and move around.
Hope you shake the blahs soon.
Joined
·
667 Posts
I agree, there is nothing wrong and it's actually good for you to feel all your emotions and process them.
However, on the flip side, it must bother you to feel down or you wouldn't have said anything.
My thoughts of what gets me through moments like this...
Be kind to yourself. Get extra sleep. Eat well. Take a vitamin every day. If the sun is out, get at least 10 minutes of sunlight a day if not more.
Talk to those friends or family members your trust and are supportive and even fun! You'd be amazed on how if one can make you laugh how that will lighten your mood and make you feel better. Or having someone really listen to what you have to say without judgement of anything is a blessing. Let those people in.
I stay motivated by making lists. Usually people get overwhelmed by lists. My lists are not there to overwhelm me. They are there to remind me of the things I want and need right now. Example. I can not function in a home that is cluttered or dirty. My mind just doesn't do well staying motivated if I look around an I'm overwhelmed. So, I try to keep up on these things or delegate them out to other family members. It helps!
Don't feel bad about not feeling positive all the time. It's not normal to be positive all the time. I'm a fairly positive person these days but I give myself permission to have my down moments too. If your not feeling positive for a long while... 30/60 days it probably means you're not doing what you really want to be doing. it's time to dig deep and figure out what it is your missing or need at this time. And these things change often through the year. So revisit as needed.
Motivation. When you're not feeling motivated force yourself to do just 10 minutes of something that needs to be done. Just 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you're still motivated, continue on to something else for 10 minutes and so on. As time goes on those 10 minutes add up, you get more energy and feel better about your progress. Those 10 minute moments turn into half hour moments and so on.
And finally, If you're feeling depressed for more that two or three weeks. Maybe it's time to get some help. Especially if it seems to get worse. I battled with Seasonal depression for years before I realized or figured out what it was. If I would have gotten help those years I would have learned quicker what works for me. I haven't had seasonal depression in over 5 years or so because I learned what caused it and what helps it for me.
I hope some of this helped.
However, on the flip side, it must bother you to feel down or you wouldn't have said anything.
My thoughts of what gets me through moments like this...
Be kind to yourself. Get extra sleep. Eat well. Take a vitamin every day. If the sun is out, get at least 10 minutes of sunlight a day if not more.
Talk to those friends or family members your trust and are supportive and even fun! You'd be amazed on how if one can make you laugh how that will lighten your mood and make you feel better. Or having someone really listen to what you have to say without judgement of anything is a blessing. Let those people in.
I stay motivated by making lists. Usually people get overwhelmed by lists. My lists are not there to overwhelm me. They are there to remind me of the things I want and need right now. Example. I can not function in a home that is cluttered or dirty. My mind just doesn't do well staying motivated if I look around an I'm overwhelmed. So, I try to keep up on these things or delegate them out to other family members. It helps!
Don't feel bad about not feeling positive all the time. It's not normal to be positive all the time. I'm a fairly positive person these days but I give myself permission to have my down moments too. If your not feeling positive for a long while... 30/60 days it probably means you're not doing what you really want to be doing. it's time to dig deep and figure out what it is your missing or need at this time. And these things change often through the year. So revisit as needed.
Motivation. When you're not feeling motivated force yourself to do just 10 minutes of something that needs to be done. Just 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you're still motivated, continue on to something else for 10 minutes and so on. As time goes on those 10 minutes add up, you get more energy and feel better about your progress. Those 10 minute moments turn into half hour moments and so on.
And finally, If you're feeling depressed for more that two or three weeks. Maybe it's time to get some help. Especially if it seems to get worse. I battled with Seasonal depression for years before I realized or figured out what it was. If I would have gotten help those years I would have learned quicker what works for me. I haven't had seasonal depression in over 5 years or so because I learned what caused it and what helps it for me.
I hope some of this helped.
Joined
·
62 Posts
it sounds like you've conquered some major hurdles and challenges lately.....the lack of "crisis" in a way can be it's own let down....think about climbing Everest...that's a BIG mountain, takes lots of preparation, time, effort and consumes mass amounts of energy. when a climber DOES make the summit, they get about oh 10-15 minutes, maybe, after months of preparation, weeks spent on the mountain aclimatizing. THEN it's time to start the trek back down. DOWN? i just GOT here! where's the chair lift?
i think our lives are a lot like that....we all have our mountains to climb - be it debt, or other financial hardships, personal growth, family problems, illness, careers - and we pour our energy into CONQUERING that mountain, getting to the peak........but then what? no time for a lot of lolly gagging, gotta climb down the other side.
as a side note, i totally relate to how you are feeling (i think?) - i've been feeling more and more run down of late, just a LOT more tired than i should be. so just this morning on my way into work i stopped at the pharmacy and got some good quality multi-vitamins and some female-related supplements.....occurred to me that over time i'd stopped taking those and let other little bits of SELF CARE slip by the wayside. time to get back on the proverbial horse!
i think our lives are a lot like that....we all have our mountains to climb - be it debt, or other financial hardships, personal growth, family problems, illness, careers - and we pour our energy into CONQUERING that mountain, getting to the peak........but then what? no time for a lot of lolly gagging, gotta climb down the other side.
as a side note, i totally relate to how you are feeling (i think?) - i've been feeling more and more run down of late, just a LOT more tired than i should be. so just this morning on my way into work i stopped at the pharmacy and got some good quality multi-vitamins and some female-related supplements.....occurred to me that over time i'd stopped taking those and let other little bits of SELF CARE slip by the wayside. time to get back on the proverbial horse!
Joined
·
95 Posts
I think feeling underwhelmed by things that would normally leave you upbeat is pretty normal. For me, a nice "recovery" is to do some kind of physical activity. I've found that when I exercise, I'm in a much better mood and am more prone to staying positive/being motivated. I also stay away from people who I know are Debbie-downers as much as I can; the mood's contagious and I don't need to be drug down any further than I already am.
I hope you get your positivity back soon!
I hope you get your positivity back soon!
Joined
·
265 Posts
Tess, thanks for this. I think this is a great way to describe life and reading that really helped me put some things into perspective.
I spent ALL of 2009 dealing with my husband's kidney disease and dialysis and then preparing for and donating a kidney in 12/09. And you know what? 2010 was just as hard it its own way due to financial issues, so it's been really rough coming down from the "mountain" of a serious health issue while also climbing the "mountain" of financial strain, especially since it's cool to talk to people about the transplant, but less cool to talk about money troubles. So, wow, your Everest anaogy is really going to stick with me.
As for the OP, you've gotten great advice here, so I don't really have anything to offer. Except that I have started posting a daily "Hapiness is..." post on my facebook page, and it's really made me look for and recognize the small things that make me happy, because there are lots, if I but look for them.
Kara
Joined
·
1,936 Posts
If I'm feeling down I stop and think about the people that would love to change places and have what I think are problems instead of their very real problems. One thing I think of (thought of this over the weekend when passing by there) is St. Jude's Hospital for Children. I'm sure to every parent sitting in there with their child that my problems would seem very small. They no doubt would love to have my small problems and a healthy child.
When I think about the circumstances of many others, I realize that I've got a lot to thank God for. Sometimes we just have to stop and think about what we have to be happy for.
When I think about the circumstances of many others, I realize that I've got a lot to thank God for. Sometimes we just have to stop and think about what we have to be happy for.
During the winter I try to make sure I get outside in the sun and exercise in the freezing cold fresh air. I will also pick up an on sale flowering plant or flowers to help take the gloom out of winter.
Nothing wrong in feeling down once and a while but it sounds like you want to shake this feeling. So how about going down memory lane and realize how much better things are now. I also tend to stay around people who are more positive or are not afraid to compliment you on something.
That being said it can be really helpful to be around friends you enjoy spending time with. So you can get together with someone or a group of people for some coffee, pot luck, watch a game, watch a movie. Just something to be around people you enjoy.
Last year I made a point to be more positive and just happier. It is a process but the more I did it the easier it became. I plan on working on it more this year. Plus it really gets the negative people more irked at times. lol
Are you taking some time for yourself? Doing something you really enjoy? This may also help with your perspective.
Nothing wrong in feeling down once and a while but it sounds like you want to shake this feeling. So how about going down memory lane and realize how much better things are now. I also tend to stay around people who are more positive or are not afraid to compliment you on something.
That being said it can be really helpful to be around friends you enjoy spending time with. So you can get together with someone or a group of people for some coffee, pot luck, watch a game, watch a movie. Just something to be around people you enjoy.
Last year I made a point to be more positive and just happier. It is a process but the more I did it the easier it became. I plan on working on it more this year. Plus it really gets the negative people more irked at times. lol
Are you taking some time for yourself? Doing something you really enjoy? This may also help with your perspective.
Joined
·
2,372 Posts
I dress in comfy clothes with a cup of hot chocolate and plop onto the the sofa with my puppy dogs. They don't care about money, bills, its not their world. I make crazy promises to them that some day I'm gonna have so much money and I list off all the things I'm going to buy and do for them. They just snort and snuffle while I snuggle them, all happy for the attention.
One day last week I went out to the backyard and threw snowballs at them, they loved it and I got out my frustration. Finally they made me laugh. I was ready to go back inside and face the music again.
Give in to your moods, they are ok to feel, they are part of the process of any change.
One day last week I went out to the backyard and threw snowballs at them, they loved it and I got out my frustration. Finally they made me laugh. I was ready to go back inside and face the music again.
Give in to your moods, they are ok to feel, they are part of the process of any change.
Joined
·
3,024 Posts
A little bit of exercise goes a long way. If you can go out for a 45 minute walk - the mind has a way of clearing itself and energy begets energy.
1 - 13 of 13 Posts
Join the discussion
