Some days, you really don't want to do a specific thing. Some days, you just don’t want to do anything. Some days, you want to do all the things! Motivation levels change day to day and season to season. This is even more pronounced in people that have depression. Motivation is not a single unifying feeling for every person. Even getting the small stuff accomplished can be really difficult. Some days, you sit and watch Netflix because that’s what you need for your own sanity. This is not an inspirational post to try to get you to get moving and accomplish the thing you really don’t feel like doing.
This is a post to let you know that you don’t have to do the thing. It’s ok to rest, take breaks, be lazy, and not get things accomplished. It’s ok to give yourself the grace to purposefully choose not to get something done. This only becomes not ok if it has a long-term, identifiable effect on your ability to function in the world. If you never brush your teeth, you will probably get infections. If you don’t brush your teeth today, it’s not a problem. If you don’t feed your child lunch one day, it’s not a big deal. If you don’t feed them all day, that’s a problem.
We get so many messages from family, friends, media, etc. that tell us to be perfect, get up and move, “make today great!” But you know what? Good enough is good enough. It is important that we set reasonable goals for ourselves and allow those goals to be flexible. Blind adherence to binding and forced expectations is a recipe for disaster. You may not make it to the gym today; you may watch more TV than yesterday; you may not be ready for that presentation tomorrow. Yay! Good for you! You are living a good enough life! This kind of existence will give you space to grow and make REAL change. When everything you do is determined by hard and fast rules, the only options are to stress yourself working too hard or face guilt and shame because you couldn’t live up to the expectation. This will not do. The best way to grow is to have many different experiences and decide which ones work for you on an individual and daily basis.
Some days the dishes get done and some days they don’t. The sun will rise tomorrow either way.
Comments