The Pity Party
Warning: There will be some swearing in this piece so if that’s not your thing feel free to skip this one.
One night my husband asked me how my coaching practice was going, our conversation went a little something like this:
Me: It’s not.
Kyle: Why not?
Me: I’m not motivated right now. My job is sucking the life out of me. The work I’m doing is shit, and I’m not excited so I just feel like shit about everything right now.
Kyle: So it’s all shit?
Me: Yep.
A little later, I thanked him for asking about it, and told him that I just have “a really shitty attitude” right now. His response: “I don’t want you to give up on your dreams—coaching makes you happy.”
He left to go play hockey, and while our son slept, I curled up with some of my favorite Bravo shows and watched some mind-numbing TV for a few hours. All while eating half a bag of Doritos and some vanilla ice cream (I’ll admit, I can be an emotional eater).
After some TV and junk food, I texted a friend for a pep talk. I explained that I was getting overwhelmed, and it was showing up as a really bad attitude, and she reminded me that she was here for me and that the world is waiting for me.
Sometimes, it’s so easy to look at your life like it’s all gone to shit. I am a firm believer in letting yourself have a moment, a Debbie-Downer kind of day every once in a while. It makes us human…and life can feel HARD. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows even when everything looks that way on the outside.
I’m also a firm believer of picking yourself up and dusting yourself off (in my case, dusting the Dorito crumbs off my pants!). After reflecting on how I was feeling, what kept coming up for me was what two really important people said to me:
I don’t want you to give up on the dreams of what makes you happy.
I’m here for you and the world is waiting for you.
It’s so important to be kind to yourself when life feels hard. Reach out to people who will listen to you and not try to fix how you’re feeling. In doing that, you may be able to brainstorm some ideas on how to pick yourself off and dust yourself off!
Here’s what I did to pick myself up:
I took care of myself. I went to yoga felt rejuvenated.
I wrote this blog post! Journaling can be helpful.
I blocked off some time in my day to tackle a few personal things I hadn’t had the chance to get to that have been hanging over my head. They were adding to me feeling stressed/overwhelmed.
I asked for something I needed from my husband. It was a little thing but it’s something we’d been meaning to work on together. I’m not always great at asking for help but when I do, and it’s received with open arms, it feels so dang good. So. Good.
My best friend will often say to me, “Tomorrow is a new day – thank God.” It’s so true. No matter what, you always get a fresh start tomorrow. How great is that?
