Today is one of THOSE days. For some reason I woke up in the pits. No reason, just a low day and no sign of sun. Since like everyone else I need to get “stuff” done today, I tried to diagnose the problem. The best I could come up with was a yucky case of the blahs!! I get those when we’ve had too many days of “June Gloom” and today is REALLY gloomy. There’s a slim chance of rain today, but odds are, it’ll just be gray – like ME! Given a choice, what I’d love to do is curl up under a blankie with a book and my faithful dog to keep me warm. If the dog ain’t so faithful, I can fall back to the cat. But today is a work day, so no such luck. What to do…

Follow the Plan

When all else fails, I fall back to the routine. Don’t get me wrong, routine can be BORING, but on a day like today, routine is what keeps me moving.

Everyday, rain or shine, THE DOG MUST BE WALKED! There is no debate, she must be taken out to do her business and unless it’s driving rain, we walk to the local park. This is because her ability to do her business is directly tied to getting her moving. AND if she’s not moving, I’m not moving. That causes weight gain which causes blahs (or worse) – and so it goes. After we get back, it’s into the shower (for me – the dog takes her first of many naps), and then a bite while I check email and figure out my priorities for the day.

While I’m doing my “stuff” I play music. If I have to think, like when I’m writing, then I listen to classical. If I’m doing grunt work, sorting papers, posting checks, backing up the system, then I play something more energetic, maybe musicals like Chicago, A Little Night Music or Oklahoma!; or rock from the 60s, 70s, or 80s. Sometimes having the music in the background actually changes my energy level.

So, that’s how I fight the blahs today. For me the blahs are difficult because there’s nothing “wrong” – I just don’t want to do anything.

Reward Myself

Some days the work is its own reward. Not on a day like today. So I reward myself just for fighting thru the blahs. It ain’t easy to fight the blahs, but it is essential. Recognizing that just by doing what I was supposed to do, I’ve succeeded is also essential.

This is key to being resilient. No one has all good days… well, maybe Pollyanna, but no one else. Putting one foot in front of the other on a blah day is a HUGE success of optimism over pessimism.

Some days we reach for the heights, some days we struggle to get thru. So, after I’ve gotten my “stuff” done, I’ll grab my book, my blankie, my dog and curl up in a ball for a while. This is a small reward, but one that I find restorative, isn’t fattening and I owe myself. The dog enjoys it too!

How do you get thru the blah days? What tricks do you use?