I was going to write a post about how being in a good mood makes it so much easier to achieve our goals…
But I wasn’t in the mood.
I was thinking about how wonderful and rewarding it is when our lives affect others and inspire them to accomplish great things, so I thought about mentioning that…
But I wasn’t very inspired.
Ever have a day like that?
I sat here trying to “Think” myself into an inspired and upbeat mood, especially since that was exactly what I wanted to write about, since it was exactly what I have been planning on writing about since yesterday, which is when I was in the MOOD to write about it…
Before the mood left me.
Now I’m trying to stuff the foggy thoughts back into my uncooperative head and try not to laugh too hard at the irony.
I’m simply not in the right mood to write about mood.
Our Moods are a Funny Thing.
At least mine are. Maybe as a woman in my young fifties, with teenagers at home and with grandkids and adult kids who come to visit often, my busy life warrants a rollercoaster of moodiness that jumps anywhere from Upbeat-Energizer-Bunnie to Zen-like-Gone to crazed Mom-on-a-mission to Zombie-on-a-stick.
It’s nearing the end of the work day, I’m about to go make dinner soon and I’m approaching Zombie Time.
Not very energetic, not very inspired and not much of a mood at all- unless you count a flatline yawn as a mood.
I could let this discourage me. In fact, for a good portion of my life, I did. I would get to this time of the day and I would feel like a balloon out of air and I’d think…
My life Sucks. Nobody appreciates me. I have to get off my behind when I am exhausted and tired, I have to go make dinner, then I have to clean it all up..and then I have to wake up tomorrow, start over and do it again.Too much routine. It isn’t fair, blah, blah, blah, blah.
But…that rarely happens anymore. ( I can’t say never- because you never know about moods…)
I can say rarely, because after fifty years, I’ve learned a little secret about my moods. They are moody. Whatever they are right now, all I have to do is wait just a little bit…and they will change back into something else.
But That Doesn’t Mean I Get to Ignore Them.
I don’t have to ACT on them. I don’t have to think that how I feel is the automatic truth, but I do have to notice them.
The fact is, my moods are here to communicate with me. As long as I am listening, my moods are indicators, along with my feelings, about how I am doing at any point and time during the day.
As long as I am paying attention, my moods can give me a hint to what is going on in that sneaky subconscious, or with my physical body- who is also not always so good at communicating it’s needs.
Zombie mood? Chances are it has nothing to do with anyone. My family and friends appreciate me just fine. When I am not too busy pouting and feeling sorry for myself, I can listen to my body and see that the real trouble might be that I am tired, thirsty, need to take a break, am feeling overwhelmed…or need a quiet cup of tea to recharge my people juice. I probably haven’t had enough quiet time. If I peek in my journal, I might even find a few empty pages. Never a good thing.
Crazed-Mom-on-a-Mission mood? (Not my family’s favorite mood) Tense…rushed…didn’t plan my schedule all that well, feeling the need to be all things to all people…totally missed the “take care of me train” when it left the station. I usually look like a whirling octopus with eight arms flying and ten mouths barking out orders. To be honest, I’m not such a fan of this mood either. I’m pretty sure there was a mythological woman created from this mood and none of us want to be her. However- we often are and live to regret it. Instead of hating my own guts, and the family I take it out on, I find if I’m really listening, a nice shower and some peaceful music helps a great deal to calm this savage beast. And for god’s sake, I have to hide my To-do list when I get like this and forget about it.The’ Do One Thing’ and Tiny Bites’ mottoes become my best friend.
Upbeat Energizer Bunnie mood? It seems like this might be a good thing. And in a way it is.I get a lot done. But I’ve learned it is a mask for the overachiever perfectionist that lurks inside, always wanting to do it all NOW, believing that I can Power achieve it all at once. It isn’t a very life balanced mood. It usually means I’ve slipped out of trust. I’ve grabbed hold of the reigns and are trying to control the HOW and am positive thinking myself to death instead of trusting that by taking balanced and reliable action, that the plan WILL happen as it should, in it’s own time.
Zen-like-Gone? No clue what this is? It’s a tricky one. Maybe I’m the only one who has this mood. It’s when I literally check out. Slip out of the day to day to do list and hamster wheel of life and spend my afternoon lost in a book, meditating, painting, writing or down the rabbit hole of artist’s paradise. It means I have hit the wall of humanity and crashed. One minute I am sitting there talking and the next…I have simply faded away, lost in a fantasy land. A little scary? Yeah. But I have learned to listen to my body and brain when the Zen mood starts showing up. Ignore that mood and physical illness will show up to crash me instead. I have learned to back off and go chill. Re-charge. ASAP.
Not all of my Moods are Bizarre.
Of course there are the other wonderful, normal delicious moods. Like feeling love, gratitude, enthusiasm and excitement for my inspired life and for the joy I feel in having such a blessed family.
But if I don’t keep an eye on the wacky moods, I find that I don’t experience and even NOTICE the great moods when they come by. They get drowned out by the shouting of the roller-coaster moody moods.
By paying attention, naming them, listening to my needs and taking care of them quickly as they come up, I can get back to the moods I want.
Like feeling grateful and full of love.
And like being in the mood to write this after all.
