I’m in a Funk: A Powerful Mindset to Overcome Your Challenge

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(Inside: “I’m in a funk.” Have you been there? Or are you currently trying to claw your way out of a funk? Here’s a powerful mindset that can help.)

Moms, you know the times when you work hard at something, whatever pulses in your heart you MUST DO. Then you finally present your “product” with arms up, chest puffed out, and a “ta-dah”? Then, crickets…

That’s where I was at.

I had an idea that kept me up at night as it stirred in my mind. I brainstormed, investigated, created, shaped, revised…then beat the sun out of bed to dance my fingers over the keyboard finishing it. With previous successful articles (one viral!) in my back pocket energizing my confidence, I presented my newest piece.

Y’all, I was excited and convinced I was on to something that would make an impact. Maybe even an epic impact.

So…drum roll, please.

Aaaaand crickets.

What a waste of time. I should’ve ignored this idea and caught up on the new episodes of The Crown instead.

I'm in a funk
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Later that evening, my hands were deep in warm soapy water as I scrubbed the remains of dinner out of the pan thinking about how I wasted a bunch of my time. I felt a funk creeping in. I mean, why does this dream beat in my heart if it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere?

My youngest son, his dinner plate in hand, looked up to me and with all his 7-year-old wisdom said:

“Did you know whoever it was that invented the light bulb failed like 1000 times before he actually made the light bulb that worked? That’s what I learned in school today.” 

His dish clanked on the counter next to me, as he turned and walked away. 

Wow.

Thomas Edison failed one thousand times before he actually created his world-changing invention.

Which means he tried one thousand times.

One thousand times.

Why do some things effortlessly work out?

Why do some people seem to always be successful, no matter what they try?

Why do some women consistently get open doors after open doors in their careers, while others are the ones consistently laid off?

Or why do some kids seem to be born making all the right choices without their parent’s prompting, when other great parents struggled to get their son to graduate from high school?

Or why do some seem to have all easy relationships, great marriages, and caring extended family members, while others have loved ones who won’t ever visit without someone begging them to come and then buying their plane ticket? 

Or why do some people always seem to be content with their lives no matter what is going on while you struggle with a bazillion big emotions and questions that seem to choke out your happiness and put you in a funk?

Just like, scientists don’t really understand why rich, moist soil coaxes out roots and stems and leaves. There is a mystery as to why some things in life work out so easily and some don’t.

But, maybe…

Just maybe.

Some challenges aren’t supposed to work out immediately.

Some situations need to take a thousand tries until one finds light. For some reason, the struggle in the journey to the end goal is both important and needed.

As long as my heart beats with ideas that must be put on paper, one thousand times I rise early and write. Until I am where I want to be as a writer.

Or even though you were laid off (again), you keep networking and researching and moving forward until you find your place in the working world. One thousand times you try and try again.

Or your teen who doesn’t seem to be able to make good friends or find their place in school, you keep guiding and loving and connecting with him. You cling to the slivers of hope that you see emerge here or there in the tiniest of ways. One thousand times – you tell yourself you won’t stop because it’s going to take at least one thousand tries.

Or when your sweet sister, your only sibling, is stolen from you by cancer and you can’t stand the pain. You’re certain this holiday will be nothing without her twice-baked potatoes, her laugh, her energy. But one thousand times…this is one of the one thousand steps you must go through until you find healing and can celebrate feeling her presence in your heart with more fondness than pain.

Or your adult daughter – your heart breaks when you see the choices she’s made. But, you’re going to keep reaching out and keep loving her exactly as she is. A thousand times. Until she finds her way.

Or you’re just in a funk. The middle-age years are taking their toll – you’re questioning your career, your parenting skills, and your place in this world. Is it all significant enough? So, you search – one thousand times until you find your answer.

One thousand times.

We keep going. One foot in front of the other.

One thousand times.

We keep on until we beat our challenges.

We research, we find resources, we surround ourselves with supportive people. 

One thousand times.

We get still before God and talk, listen, repeat…

One thousand times.

We keep on until we beat our challenges.

Why does it take a thousand times? There are no answers, but it could be:

  • The timing isn’t right. 
  • God is protecting you by NOT letting you get your way. 
  • There is something vital and life-giving you’re about to learn. 
  • God is growing His relationship with you in ways you will look back and be beyond grateful for. 
  • God is making you stronger. 
  • God has a different and better plan for you. 

We just don’t know the “whys.” But we DO KNOW if we keep going, keep pressing on, keep moving forward…and remember it could take one thousand tries…

“I’m in a funk.” Read the full thrive in difficult relationships and situations series

Why can’t I get along with this person, I’m good with people. People are my thing. Why has this year been filled with not this difficult relationship, but hard relationships with an “s?”

I had a year when relationships with three people I cared about unraveled. I had just come out of healing from a miscarriage and being cut from a job I loved (student numbers were down and they cut the lowest-tenured teacher). And just when I thought I’d put my life back together and found my way, here I was struggling with not situations, but people.

What a season.

It caused me to explore situations and relationships and figure out how to find peace, healing, and forgiveness in tough times. 

THRIVE IN DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIPS & SITUATIONS SERIES
Parenting is Hard: This One Thought Can Help You Better Thrive
How to Deal with Difficult People
Moms, How to Prepare for a Fight


HEAL YOUR HURT SERIES
I’m So Hurt: What Healing Sometimes Looks Like
When Life Knocks You Down & You’re Tired of Your Struggle
Miscarriage Grief: 5 Reasons Why a Miscarriage is so Emotionally Painful

I'm in a funk

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You just dropped one kid off at practice, picked up another, and are trying to decide what to make for dinner. Your days are filled with work, parenting, and waiting for password reset emails.

You are parenting tweens and teens.

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