I need momentum for nearly everything except eating. Be it a shower, cleaning, or a workout, it takes work to “keep it moving.”
One reason my inertia works that way is because I’ve worked from home for many years. This lifestyle change diminished my morning ritual (and helped increase my waistline). I went from getting “outside” dressed every morning, to getting “inside” dressed some mornings, then eventually afternoons. I morphed into one of those folks who only “dressed” if I had somewhere to go. (Dog walking clothes don’t count.)
As a single woman, this posed no real problem. Once remarried, however, I had to reestablish a routine. Communicate a new message. Current actions said, Only the people outside matter, and not the one(s) inside. However, I do matter. But to prove it, I needed to regain my momentum as it relates to self-care.
Do you believe that self-care is a sign of life? For many weeks and months I went through the motions, but wasn’t really living. My choices and actions were on autopilot. Without momentum to do the basics, how do we accomplish the goals and tasks aligned to our purpose? Generally, we don’t.
So, how do we fuel our momentum and get back to life? In a recent post, I mentioned that we need motivation. (Missed it? CLICK HERE!) What else can we use to combat the thoughts attempting to silence our greatness and gratitude? How exactly do we get back to life? To our high-functioning selves?
I got a clue by watching Rocky III. An emotional one-two punch outside the ring, affected his performance in the ring. He temporarily lost the will to fight and along with it, the momentum of his training. Though he still had all his fighting abilities, he wasn’t getting his usual results. He’d lost his fight. Real talk, he was depressed. Been there, done that a few times in life.
Can we address that elephant in the room? There are two sides to this coin – if you’re depressed, part of you knows it. When it’s confronted, courageously acknowledge it. How can you break through a wall you insist isn’t there? No more denial!
On the other side, if you believe someone you care about is depressed, depending on your level of relationship, coax their heart open with compassion and confrontation. As Rocky’s wife, Adrian knew when her approach had to go from comfort to confrontation. She & Apollo succeeded in helping him get his fight back!
Pause. Look in the mirror. Have you lost your fight? As one who struggled with depression, I can testify that regaining momentum was key to pressing forward and getting my life back. To this day, if I start slacking on self-care, I know depression is trying to creep up and I need to investigate. Retrace my steps to where I lost momentum and pick it up. No matter how many times I must repeat those actions, I refuse to quit!
What are your tricks to maintain momentum or regain your fight? Inquiring minds want to know!
Great post! Self-care is key! Also realizing it isn’t selfish to take care of yourself first, even when others are depending on you, or if others have already given up on you. I’ve dealt with depression, denial and the death of my passion as well. Momentum can be great if used as a positive tool, but too often when we are depressed it can easily take a downward turn, like your insightful words shared. Whenever I would have one of those super dark days, even if I had to cry myself to sleep, somewhere on the inside I would hear, “Well, now that that’s out of the way, tomorrow will be great!” And even if it was only a twinge better, it gave me a reason to be grateful, because at least it wasn’t as bad as yesterday. When really circumstances didn’t change much, but my perception of them did. A slight turn in the direction of hope to look for what IS going right can change the whole picture from black and white back into living color. That and a commitment to never give up, no matter what!!! Thanks Lisa E. Glad you got your fight back!!!
Thanks for your feedback and insight, Sara! 🙂