I don't like the song or the throwaway phrase 'life is a rollercoaster'. It just sounds too twee to me. But sometimes you really do notice that you are on it anyway - especially on the 'downs'.
Life is a rollercoaster...
I'm not even talking about those obvious 'life highs', like getting married, and after which you sometimes experience a kind of 'come down', or the ‘life lows’ like being made redundant.
Nor am I talking about the mental health struggles beyond the remit of a coach (and for which this phrase would be too trivialising).
I'm talking about the days in our lives that are just... meh. Or the days in which you manage to experience all four of the thought bubbles above for no apparent reason.
This was me yesterday - a full on 'meh' day (there was no green carriage unfortunately). It sucked. For no obvious reason whatsoever, which kind of made it even more annoying because I wasn't sure what to do about it.
So... I just let it be. I know it won't last forever, and sometimes the harder I try to shift it, the harder the 'mehness' (technical term!) takes hold. Sure enough, the day progressed to the orange carriage and I started to write this, after earlier in the day experiencing total writers' block and mild panic (and if I'm being honest, increased grumpiness and wallowing in the pink carriage). Yes, I know that seems totally irrational and exaggerated - more on this in a moment!
I know sometimes we have to be more proactive and still 'do the stuff' even when we don't feel like it. But when the feelings persist, regardless of what is going on around you (being productive in spite of it, or taking some time out because of it), know that they won't last. Another carriage will come along soon.
When it comes to being human, this can just be what happens - we are pretty complex beings after all! And sometimes being logical doesn't cut through it, for a while at least.
It doesn't really matter why I had a 'meh' day; I just did, and as I said before it's often not from a logical place, it's from an emotional place. This would be why I had no obvious or explicable reason to argue with and counter with logic and reasoning for wallowing in the pink carriage!
Does this feel familiar to you? I'm sure I'm not alone in this. However, if your feelings about your circumstances are persistently getting you down, you want to make a shift but are not sure where to start, please do reach out as I'd love to see if I can help. And if it's not a good match with me and what I do as a coach, I might be able to signpost elsewhere. Kathryn@kbmindfulcoaching.com
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