The dictionary says that the word ‘slump’ originates from a word meaning ‘to fall into a bog.’ That’s wonderfully accurate. The kind of slumps I’m thinking of are quicksand-ish things that suck you down and render you, the high-performance machine, into a tire-spinning mess.
They’re kind of dangerous if not diagnosed. So here is how to know if you’ve fallen into a bog… and possibly my own tongue-in-cheek confession.
If You Refuse to Eat Your Veggies…
If you usually get your five to seven servings, but now you call those green flakes in your bag of sour cream ‘n onion good enough. If you call the ketchup on your fries and the lettuce on your burger a salad.
You may be in a slump.
If You’re Watching Way Too Much TV…
If when you’re gunning for a goal you don’t give a rip about when Castle and Becket are getting married, but now it seems like a good reason to stay on the couch. If you’re surfing YouTube at random–for hours. If the kids who run the video store don’t need to ask for your phone number to process the rental, ’cause they know it already.
You may be in in a slump.
If You Hate Everyone…
If you’re usually Mr. Nice Guy, but now the world is full of idiots. If even your Mom can’t get a smile out of you. If you can’t stand to have someone breathing beside you because the noise drives you wild.
You may be in a slump.
If You Can’t Stand to be in the Same Room as Yourself…
If your internal dialogue consists of constant rants, diatribes, and arguments with yourself. If you can’t muster the will to say no to yourself anymore. If it’s Saturday and you’ve ticked nothing off your to-do list and you feel like a fat, lazy slob.
You’re not as bad as you think you are.
Look yourself in the eye and tell yourself “I am worthwhile,” because you are. Your worth isn’t based on what you do. You are a human, a unique soul, a special gift. You are the image-bearer of God. You might be going through a slump right now. You may be full out depressed, and I’m sorry. I wish I could make it better.
But you aren’t a waste of space.
I’ve watched so much TV, YouTube, and movies this week. I ate two whole bags of chips this week (and I profess to eat low-sugar, low-carb). I slacked off of blogging and tweeting. I avoided my novel manuscript. I was a grumpy bear to my coworkers and my family and ranted a great deal more than is seemly. I’m sure I’ve been annoying as heck. About the only things I did right were going running and showing up in church on Sunday morning.
But the clock is at three minutes past midnight. It’s Tuesday morning, and I have twenty-four hours to try again.
Geralyn Wichers 