Happy Sunday! (or not?)
Are you familiar with the Sunday blues?
It’s what I call that sense of looming dread I have often experienced before an important occasion, or the last day of the holiday before going back to work.
I used to get it on a Sunday at the thought of having to go to school then next day.
I then had the same feeling when faced with a 6:30am Monday morning commute to Canary Wharf for a few years.
I still sometimes get it, even though I’ve been self-employed for seven years.
Now that I know what it is, I can quickly shake it off, step out of the fug, and get on with enjoying my Sunday.
But it used to feel like a heavy weight, an ounce of sadness mixed with a pinch of anxiety. Do you know that feeling?
It’s funny how we go through life experiencing a range of feelings that we can’t always fathom. While our mood can change, we may not always know exactly what’s triggered it.
These days, if I become anxious, grumpy or moody all of a sudden, I have a check-list in my head that goes something like this:
1. Did something just happen to trigger this?
2. Was something just said that triggered this?
3. Was I thinking about a situation or person that usually triggers me?
4. Is it a hormonal shift?
5. Am I empathising with someone else’s mood?
I try to work out if it’s something my Inner Critic has said, or if I’m reacting to something else.
Then I remind myself that I am in this moment, and in this moment I am safe, I breathe in and out slowly and purposefully to bring my mind back to the breathe in this moment.
Hoping this post helps those of you who are feeling the blues. Of course, if there’s something you’d really like to change in your life that would bring you more joy, you could consider working with a coaching psychologist to help you identify what, when and how to make changes that will serve you better.
Big love
Jess x