What to do with the blues…

Chalk it up to hormones, fatigue, or just the whole it’s-49-degrees-and-raining-in-June thing, but sometimes we just get the blues. You know, right? Almost as soon as your feet hit the floor you’re tempted to tuck them back in that warm bed and stay most the day.

I had one of those days last week. I think it was just a culmination of the life-weeding, mice-hunting, soul-searching , sky-raining, and a touch of writer’s block. Somehow everywhere I looked I just saw more reason to be bummed. Why?

Because all the places I’d looked had been at myself. 

A surefire way to sink straight down into the mire. Thankfully, my husband refuses to let me stay in that place, and he suggested that a run might be in order.  I laced up my shoes with a scowl on my face.

Within a couple steps someone’s face came to mind. A friend who I dearly love, who I knew was having a rough go of things. Immediately I knew the reason God had wanted me to run, as I could go by her house and pray for her before she started her day. I turned the corner off my normal route and headed to her house.

Instantly I felt better. Instantly.

After leaving her place, I sniffed up my tears (it was so good to see her!), and headed back home, at a little quicker pace and with energy I hadn’t felt before. I clicked my ipod on and this worship song came on … the words:

When we give our life away … oh the earth starts spinning again.

When we’re in our funk doesn’t it feel like the earth is standing still? That’s how it felt for me. Like nothing was changing. I wasn’t changing. Circumstances weren’t changing. Just stuck. Stuck in my funk. Stuck tired. Stuck, stuck, stuck. Like the earth–my world–was stuck in one place.

When we give our life away … oh the earth starts spinning again.

Providence just so had it that the day was filled with more opportunities for others. We visited and took a gift to someone we love who was going through a painful situation. More tears, more prayers, more laughs, more smiles. Then we headed to Doernbecher children’s hospital to visit a dear friend whose son was having surgery. Another blessed opportunity to love, to forget about my silly self and embrace the joy of relationship. Since we were out and about past noon, I decided to surprise the kids with a treat, and we snagged a Trader Joe’s pizza for lunch. They were deliriously happy!

By the time we returned home, I’d all but forgotten my funk. Now please hear my heart, I’m not saying that clinical depression or real, true sorrow is just “quick fixed” by going to visit someone or getting your kids a treat. But, if you’re anything like me, life just hits with little funks and moods that threaten my joy more often than I care to admit. And it is these little leaks that deflate us and leave us dragging in discouragement.

So besides the obvious–prayer, worship, meditating on Scripture–the next best RX for the blues is to just get out there and do something for someone else. Write a card. Visit. Pray for someone. Call someone. Think through your friends and consider who might need some encouragement, then think through her love language and figure out the best way you can bless her. Think about a way you can surprise your husband with something out of the ordinary. Think of what treat your kids might enjoy and spoil them–just a little–for the day.

Do you need a little extra  umph today? A little energy and joy to bring back that spring in your step? Take 5 minutes this morning to think through who you might bless today. Then give your life away and receive a dose of joy in return…

{Thanks for reading.}