Keeping Our Center ~ Day 101

My son Sam called me Monday night because he thought mom could shed some light on the “funk” he was in and couldn’t seem to get out of. He’d had about four days when he didn’t feel like getting up in the morning, didn’t have the motivation to do his homework, didn’t have the energy to work on some projects he had planned, and was just sort of blah.

He said he’d been eating well, forced himself to exercise (even if he didn’t feel like it), was getting out in the sunshine (even if just to sit there with the dog and soak up some vitamin D), he got plenty of sleep, and he had good things happening in his life. It just didn’t make sense.

I told him lots of people are feeling this way and it seems to be a result of everything that is going on in the world. It’s sort of a general feeling of malaise that creeps up on us when we least expect it. My suggestion to him: take a break, be gentle with yourself, sleep, do something you love, and allow yourself to just be with the feelings for a bit. If it lasts too long, then we have a different conversation to have, but you’ll likely bounce back with some self-compassion and understanding.

Sam didn’t like my answer. He’s a doer. He wanted to DO something to fix it. Now, I never do this with my kids, but I finally said, Sam, you know there is a Bible story about this (if you miss the reference, look up the story of Namaan in 2 Kings 5)… if I told you that all you needed to do was bike 50 miles and you’d be fine, you’d do it. But because I told you to go easy on yourself, you can’t accept it! He got a good laugh at that and told me I was right (but mothers always are). He agreed to try it my way for a day or two.

If you’re struggling with these sorts of feelings, understand that it’s normal, it’s part of the grieving we’re all doing (that I talked about yesterday), and be kind to yourself. Sometimes trying to force our way through just makes things worse. So, hug yourself, kiss your fingertips, relax in the sunshine, have a good cry, listen to music that allows you to feel, hug your dog, talk to someone who will truly listen and empathize (you can always call me). I promise we’ll get through this.

Love & Light!

Kaye