Jeff Olson, author of The Slight Edge, has a brilliant section in his book that addresses the funk that we all find ourselves in from time to time. He puts it really well in this passage:
“I don’t think it matters how successful you are, the funk is still going to get you at times. It comes for everyone. It does not discriminate.
And sometimes you have good reason for a funk. Bad things happen, and no one leads a fully charmed, invulnerable life. The truth is and always will be sometimes life hurts.
When that happens, first know that you are in good company. The funk finds everyone. But here is what I’ve learned, and it has saved me and pulled me from the funk more than once: There is no way I can understand love, if I haven’t felt the hurt of loneliness. I can’t know what good is and how good it feels, without knowing bad. I can’t feel happy and content without feeling the funk. Life is ebb and flow. Everything curves.
So when bad things are happening to you, embrace the funk.” 
As I was walking through my house the other day feeling more than a little lonely, husband gone, kids sick, family and friends feeling very far away, I embraced the funk. It made me half smile to acknowledge my funk like a crusty old friend. I wasn’t expecting it, especially given all the excitement of Thanksgiving and the beautiful gathering that I had just hosted. But would I give up feeling so much love and togetherness because afterwards I might feel sad that it was over? Never.
I will say embracing it doesn’t make it go away any faster or stay any longer, it’s just acknowledging what’s real and letting it be, throwing in some gratitude for good measure (because that never hurts) and than like most things, time performs it’s magic and one day in the midst of your hustle and bustle you realize it’s gone.
The part in the passage that struck me the most this time was, “no one leads a fully charmed, invulnerable life.” Who want’s to be invulnerable? To be vulnerable means to be open to life, to say yes, I’m here, this is who I am. That was a good reminder for me to keep showing up and I hope you will too.
Thank you for reading,
Ali
P.S. For those of you that were doing the spending challenge with me, was that an eye opener or what? I’d love to hear what you got from it. Personally, I got to lose all that yucky energy around spending. I realized by writing it down I was taking full responsibility for my spending. Everything I bought came with a gut check or it was a bill I had no energy around anyway. I’m going to keep going with this through December because it’s good accountability for me around the holidays.
P.S.S. The Winter Session Schedule is up you can find it here. If you sign up by January 1st you get $15 off! Plus, for all of you that have been thinking of signing up for Vision360 the time is now. We have an awesome gift for everyone that registers by December 27th – Oprah & Deepaks 21 Day Mediation Experience: Desire & Destiny. I did these meditations and loved them. I thought the material was so timely and the perfect compliment to the work that we’ll be doing at the retreat. To sign up, click here.
