My Brain's Not Broken

I started this week feeling a bit off. To be clear, this wasn’t in a good way or a bad way, it’s just kind of the conclusion I came to as my Monday progressed. Part of it is that this week will take me out of my usual routine, which always does something to make me slightly anxious. But the other part of it is this feeling that I’m missing something. 

Couldn’t tell you what it was, nor why I have any reason to think that, but what’s what I was doing and spoiler alert – I still am! But life goes on, and the world isn’t waiting around for me to figure out what I’m missing (which in all likelihood, could be nothing). So I needed to figure out how to continue being myself and doing my thing while fighting the agitation that’s clawing at me more than usual. And the best way, in my opinion, is to move forward. That’s it, that’s all. No secret magic this week, friends. Just take that step.

I’ve written about taking steps forward before. Usually, it’s more of an idealistic approach that you can apply to many situations. That’s not the case here. Right now, I’m talking about taking realistic, measurable steps forward, moving your life along one step at a time until you make it out of whatever funk you’re in. This isn’t about ‘mixing it up’ or working to ‘get out of your rut’ – there is a time and a place for that post. This is about progress and moving forward. Which means you take on the next challenge of your day and do your best to complete the task. It sounds simple, but it’s not always so easy.

So this week, I kept moving. My schedule isn’t normal, and that bothers me (and could be one of the main factors for why I feel off). But I am doing one thing at a time until I make it until the end of the week, which won’t be fun, but it will be helpful. Then, once I’ve made it through, I can take a deep breath and focus to see if I feel like I’m back on track. Like other approaches to mental health, there is no guarantee for 100 percent effectiveness. But it’s helped me continue on despite feeling a certain way, which is sometimes the most important thing to maintain control and focus on our wellness.

(*One note: this approach works best if you have the energy needed to face your tasks. Depression can take away a willingness or energy to complete even the simplest of tasks, and if you think that’s the case, a different approach would be better for sure.)