Hope in a Funky Funk

I’m hearing a lot of people express in their unique ways that they are currently in a funk (with funk meaning not quite depressed, but feeling melancholy and like life is a little bumpier than desired.) If you are feeling this, know you are not alone. Coming out of Winter in the Midwest is part of it, but also there are just some funky things happening that can easily lead us to feeling in a funk. 

The planets are doing some funky things right now. Our leaders are doing some funky things. Our friendships might feel a little funky right now. Our workplaces, churches, and communities feel a little funky right now. The air just feels funky all around us. 

This feeling of uncertainty or “something is off” can lead us to feeling afraid, isolated, lacking, and lost.  

When you feel this way, remember the basics: sleep, nutrition, walks, water, time with your loves, and connection to a higher power. But you might be doing all of that pretty well right now and you still feel unsteady. I’m feeling it too. 

Something that has been helping me lately is looking up to the sky and saying, “I need you. Please help me see this differently.” 

I don’t know if it is God, my deceased grandparents, angels, clouds, or birds that are listening, but it seems to go somewhere and what comes back to me feels like hope. It feels as if a small portal of possibilities opens up and the curiosity of a new perspective comes in. 

Doing this lately has helped me remember that the way I’m currently telling the story isn’t the only way. The way my brain defaults to worst-case scenarios isn’t the only way to see things. It’s just my brain warning me of potential danger, a best-case scenario could happen too. The way I worry about disappointing people isn’t based on facts at all, there is more evidence that I’m not a disappointment. The way I worry about not-enough is an old fear tape in my head, there is actually abundance all around me. 

There are always multiple ways to see everything and everyone. 

There are multiple ways to interpret what someone said. 

There are multiple ways to define success. 

There are multiple ways to envision the future. 

There are multiple ways to find new inspiration. 

There are multiple ways to reflect on a painful past. 

There are multiple ways to see beauty. 

Spend some time this week asking for guidance to see something differently. Try it with something that frustrates, upsets, saddens, worries, or annoys you. See if you can see it in a new way with a broader lens of perspective. Notice how hope flows in when you do that. Hope that it might be okay. Hope that it won’t be as bad as you fear it will be. Hope that you can handle it if it is bad. Hope that you can come up with a new solution. Hope that we can find a way forward. 

Hope is a lifeline.

Use this phrase, “please help me see this differently” as a tool for hope. It really does work to shift something inside us. Making a shift towards love, peace, and hope sounds like it is worth a try. 

Hopefully yours,