In A Funk? (A Blogger’s Funny Spiraling Meltdown)

Confessions Of A Frustrated Writer

I’m going to admit something shocking here. Happy people are not happy all of the time. One night a couple of years ago, I was in a funk.

Indeed, it was a sad, tired, cranky, full-on meltdown! It wasn’t pretty. And it definitely wasn’t fun.

So, let me start at the beginning.

The Evil Empire That Set Off My Funk

It was a three-day weekend. And everyone was celebrating.

But not me.

I was at my computer, glued to the screen for three days, doing what I do ( blogging, marketing, researching, networking, clawing for backlinks, and Pinterest).

However, since I was a newborn baby blogger just shy of three months, I needed extra income.

Enter Etsy.

As it happens, I love Canva and have lost count of the hours spent creating almost 30 designs. For three days, I listed, printed, redesigned, relisted, optimized, forgot to optimize, redid files for optimization, and then relisted them again.

You get the picture.

While adding my 20th listing, Etsy suddenly shut down my account. I couldn’t get back in. So, I tried calling.

Alas, Etsy has no phone number.

The Evil Empire Had Me In Its Slimy Grasp

Next, I tried getting help from Etsy support. However, you must have an active account to send a message. When I tried, my helpful computer screen informed me my account had been closed.

Closed?

I had just spent three whole days working on these listings – three days that could never be gotten back!

I hadn’t completed any listings or even finished setting up my shop yet! How could I have broken a rule and gotten banned already?

Upon attempting to contact Etsy support via my personal account, the help page would not send my SOS message. As I pressed the send button 35 times, the words just sat there on the screen, unsent.

As if they were mocking my puny attempts to rescue the lost account.

At least 36 hours of work and my hope for a new income stream seemed to vanish in a thick haze of malicious smoke.

Gone! No listings! Nothing. “This account has been closed.”

I stared at the mocking little screen for what seemed like hours, but that did not intimidate it into allowing me back into the site.

A Spiraling Meltdown

To add more misery to my plight, I had already lost a check from an insurance company earlier in the day. Then, my youngest child accompanied me to Target where she kindly assisted me in spending nearly $300 just for food and “necessities.”

Furthermore, the previous night had been a sleepless one, as I was keyed up about my exciting new business venture. Thus, my day with Etsy had begun at 4 AM.

The Great Big Funk

Now, I was officially in a funk.

Decidedly feeling sorry for myself, I whined out loud, both to myself and my faithful furball, Toby.

Pathetic, right?

Then, I thought about how hard I had worked these past months, taking very little time to exercise or eat right. All I wanted was to work on my blog and succeed with it.

This led to toiling 15-hour days, blogging, pinning, and attempting to learn every last, overwhelming little detail there is to know about blogging.

So, I looked at Google Analytics.

That was my next mistake.

Indeed, GA told me that absolutely no one reads my blog. The site seemed to smirk at the fact that I might actually think I have any readers.

At that point, I began doubting myself. Thus, my site probably looks amateurish with its Canva-designed, happy people. My posts are boring and not interesting. I can’t get my email to work right. Alas, I don’t even know how to do Pinterest that well.

Did I mention I was in a funk?

Funks start small. Next thing you know, you’re spiraling downward. Down, down, down.

Can you relate?

To Survive A Funk, Find A Dog

I needed an attitude adjustment fast! A defeatist attitude isn’t attractive, especially not in a mature (haha) 50-something-year-old woman.I’m supposed to be wise and have all the answers.

I mean, I write a blog about joy and self-improvement!

But, we are all human and no one is capable and happy 100% of the time. Not even mature people or authors!

Then, I plunked myself down on the floor and was immediately surrounded by three worried dogs. Each furball circled around, giving comfort to my sad self in that way only dogs can do when they sense dejection in their humans.

I looked into their sad eyes and let myself feel the awful feelings. The frustration and worry that success may not happen washed over me in droves. And I let myself feel every bit of it.

Which helped get it out of my system.

Time To Leave The Meltdown Behind

To my surprise,I soon found myself smiling and enjoying the interaction with these silly dogs. Then a few other realizations started happening. I was burning myself right out of this new, overwhelming adventure I loved.

Working in a demanding full-time job, eight hours a day, using every break and lunch hour to keep up with social media networking, was quite strenuous. At 5 PM, my personal computer was immediately powered up, and then hard at work almost every day.

Furthermore, guess how the majority of my weekends were spent?

I was doing too much, too fast, in too little time, and my life had spun out of balance.

A Plan To Escape The Funk

Therefore, it was now time to reprioritize.

Too many high expectations were leading me straight to failure. So, I looked my genius dogs in their eyes and saw they all agreed.

Next, I examined my blog, its concept, the audience I wanted to reach, and how I was going about everything. If only a few readers look at my blog now, does it possibly have a future?

Should I change everything? Or keep it as it is and give it some more time?

I had to admit a few things needed to change.

First, I needed to returnto the beginning and remember why I became a blogger.

It wasn’t about money.

Instead, it was about my love of writing. I wanted to share what I know to help improve the lives of others through what I love to do.

Unfortunately, this is where my focus had drifted away.

Next, I took a few minutes to visualize the outcome I wanted. This was with the understanding that it wouldn’t happen tomorrow (as my impatient ego had thoughtfully predicted).

Instead, I have to earn it.

And when I do, it will be one of the most rewarding accomplishments in mylife!

A New Beginning To Cure A Bad Funk

So, I began forming a new plan.

I decided that instead of focusing on future income, blogging would remain a much-loved hobby. I would delay writing my e-books and other planned monetary projects to focus on learning more about what I still needed to know.

Additionally, I wanted to know more about my audience and howI can serve you better.

Plus, I scheduled and took time for myself while I learned.

For example, I prioritized leashing up my three wonderful dogs and taking them (and myself) for morning strolls.

A New Day Dawns

Since I started putting myself to bed at a reasonable hour while changing my priorities,my days have gone much better.

Thus, taking a hard look at myself and my blogging experience and devising a new plan instilled a fresh attitude!

And actually, it felt pretty, darn good.

But not only that, do I dare mention when I logged into Etsy the next evening, my account and listings were back, fully intact?

It’s a fact that every day is a new day!

With new opportunities and beginnings!

One thing is for sure. I’ll never turn back or give up.

In fact, the race was just getting started!

A well planned goal and dogged persistence will win every battle within our control!

I don’t get in a funk very often. Life has taught me that a bad mood doesn’t get me where I need to go. Plus, a good funk never lasts forever.

But when a person gets in a funk, they can milk it for a little while, but stewing in it for too long is self-neglect!

What To Do When You’re In A Dejected Mood

While doing research, I came across some good advice. You may find this helpful. Plainly speaking, this cure-all fix is a self-installation of a good attitude adjustment!

1. When you’re upset, allow yourself to feel the full weight of your emotional skydive for a short while. Then, begin pulling yourself out of the hole! If you want success, you have to work for it.
2. Re-examine your life and priorities. Think about your attitude and why you were triggered.
3. Take a hard look at your role in the problem. What’s working and what’s not working?
4. Go back to the beginning. What should you do differently? What can you learn from it?
5. Is your end goal still worth fighting for? If so, learn how to get motivated.
6. Come up with a new plan.
7. Ask experts for advice and people around you for help as needed. Remember, it’s wise to learn from experience.
8. Research and learn everything you can about what you’re trying to do. Simple changes usually make all the difference.
9. Visually picture what it looks like to obtain your goal.
10. Slow down if you’re going too fast. Ensure you’re using your best judgment and decision-making abilities.
11. Use positive affirmations, encourage yourself often, and celebrate every success, even small ones.

Remember, Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude (How far you go in life)

Wrapping Up In A Funk

Work through challenging situations instead of quickly giving up because it seems too hard. What you go through and how you handle everything determines what you become. Give yourself a chance.

Never forget to believe in yourself. Fight your way through thoughts of giving up.

Arm yourself with adequate knowledge and follow a well-thought-out plan that works for you.

Flexibility, remaining open to change, and learning to adapt when change occurs is essential.

Remember that teamwork and working well with others help you reach your goals.

“Research unequivocally confirms that your attitude is one of the most important … if not THE most important … factor in your success”.

As a bonus, enjoy this brief, insightful video offering additional information on escaping a funk.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. –Marcus Aurelius

References

lifehack.org

linkedin.com

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