‘The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” — Marcel Proust
We often get into phases in our lives where we feel like we have hit a dead end. We feel physically and emotionally drained where nothing is going right for us and there is no progress in our lives. Basically, you feel like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Honestly, it happens to the best of us. Slumps can be as short as an afternoon or last for months. Whatever the case, the feeling of despair dominated by these slumps can even make even the idea of making positive changes in your life seem difficult. However, it is important to understand that this phase is a part of life and one should learn to get through it instead of fighting it.
Acknowledge it
Just like any other problem, it is useless to bury your head in the sand and hope that it goes away. Believe it or not, slumps can be a way to recharge. Accept that you are going through it and figure out the cause. Sometimes it can be as simple as occupational burn-out or reduced personal drive. Whatever the case, accept the situation as it is. This will allow you to work towards addressing the issues that are the cause of your slump.
Talk it out
Most of these slumps are emotion based. The problem of trying to fix them by ourselves is that we sometimes get stuck in our own heads. We may end up overthinking and overanalyzing things to an extent your thoughts become one big bundle of woven thread. Reaching out to someone you trust or a professional counsellor can help you figure out the underlying problem without getting lost in all your emotions. You may even realize that the issue was not as big as your mind was setting it out to be. Talking to someone also reminds us that many people go through this and it is just a fleeting phase in life.
Do something you love
Slumps are dominated by feelings of sadness and anxiety. Engage in activities that make you happy. It could be as simple as going for a walk or watching football with your friends. You could find that the slump was caused by a bad mood or even hormonal changes (where are my ladies at). Taking part in activities you enjoy doing takes away from the whole ‘end of the world’ mentality. As I had stated before, most of these slumps can be overcome by simply recharging our body’s and our minds.
Get inspired
When we get through stages where we start to doubt where we are in life or where we are headed, some inspiration goes a long way. Search for little bouts of inspiration. It could be reading the stories of people who you look up to or reading books, magazines or blogs to give you the boost you need. All one needs is simply a little inspiration to put things into perspective. If you are a creative, it could help you spring up some new ideas you would love to try.
After that, start small. Many are times you find yourself overwhelmed by the many goals you have set for yourself. Start by accomplishing one task at a time. Ticking off a goal no matter how small gives you the confidence to accomplish more tasks.
Surround yourself with positive people
Do not, I repeat, do not have a pity party where you invite yourself to wallow in your misery. Surround yourself with people who can motivate you. You are an average of the five people you spend the most time with. Find people whose energy will work to lift yours. This motivates you to analyze your situation, get back on the horse and continue pushing on with life.
The truth is, you will go through more than one slump in your life. However, once you figure out how to identify it and manoeuvre through it, it becomes easier to handle. Slumps can be great eye openers. You can use them to propel you to even greater heights than you were before.
Featured image via www.wikihow.com.
