Slumps

Being in a slump can really suck your energy.  I have found this to be true since I have been off work.  I can find all kinds of reasons for just a few more winks of sleep, just one more bite of cake, or just a few more minutes of relaxing on the couch.  It's too early, it's too dark, it's too cold, it's too late, it's too soon, it's not the right time, it's too boring, I'm too tired, I will do it tomorrow, I deserve to rest, I don't WANNA!

Heavy sigh.  I think I'll have another cup of hot chocolate and contemplate my fat rolls.  I wonder when I will get up the gumption to do more exercise than walking the dog and relying on her to pull me up the hills.  I wonder how many marshmallows are in each packet of chocolate.  I wonder how many more leaves will fall into the yard.  I wonder if the job market will ever pick up.  I wonder if I'll ever feel motivated to recover that couch I bought.  I wonder if I should get up and wind the clock.  I wonder.  Sluuuuurp. Ahhhhhh.  I wonder if anyone would notice if I sat in bed and watched TV, read and napped all day.  I wonder if I would feel guilty if I did.

Reading the latest on Facebook, I found a friend online.  We discussed lunch this week and then determined through much chatter, that we could combine lunch with cleaning her outdoor sheds and straightening up her back deck, in preparation for winter.  She too, is in a slump and needs someone to help her get motivated.

What a wonderful day we had.  Screaming at spiders, throwing away junk, sweeping clods of dirt and organizing garden tools. We squealed at webs, jumped sideways at bugs, laughed at our fears and got the job done.  When you have a friend there to chat with, the idea of getting things cleaned up becomes exciting and you become filled with newly found energy.  The burden of guilt, procrastination and self-beatings come to a cheerful hault and you are encompassed in a buzz of vibrancy.

Staying in a slump is a heavy load for the body to bear.  The lowered energy that results from thoughts that give us reasons not to do the things that we really want to do can spiral us down into a catatonic state of stoic inability to lift our head off the pillow.

If you find yourself in an unemployed state of rigamortis, gather up the strength to call a friend.  Inquire as to what they need help with.  Insist on providing the assistance they need to get that job done that they have been putting aside.  Set a time and jump out of bed and rush to their assistance.  Ask them lots of questions and watch the rust leave their brain and listen for the chatter of ideas that start flowing from their mouths as they take physical action toward their goal.  Feel your inner burners fire up and send you into non-stop action, accompanying them along their path to a successful day.  Your own projects will come to the forefront of your mind and you won't be able to wait to get home so that you can tackle your own pile of discarded to-dos. Relish the feeling of being fully alive.

If this is too overwhelming for you, your head feels glued to the pillow and you cannot find the strength to offer a friend help, pick up the phone and call them anyway.  And ask for a hand up.  It's OK.  That's what friends are for.  We are there for one another, through thick and thin, good and bad.  Friendship.  It's a beautiful thing.