What To Do When You Feel Emotionally Drained
Renovate Life Now
Life renovation. You may be unfamiliar with the phrase, but its meaning should be intuitively obvious to you. Your life may feel old and run down because of all the stress you have endured over several years. It's time to assess where you are and where you want to go with your life. It's time to make those changes that "renovate" your life. You need to recharge your emotional batteries and begin caring about life again.
While I cannot offer you a magic formula for revitalizing your joy in life, I hope to share with you some ideas to help you see a brighter future. When you have something to look forward to you have something to live for. If you want nothing out of life that's really because you have run aground. We thrive on new challenges and a sense of accomplishment. But there may be stresses in our lives that drain us of the energy to do things, the desire to accomplish more.
Self esteem is one of the key ingredients of a highly satisfactory life. If your self esteem has dropped to a low point you may feel like there is nothing for you to do. One way to improve your self esteem is to change the people around you. You may be living in the shadow of people who constantly put you down. They may try to soften the blow by making it seem like they are being humorous, but toxic people always make you feel bad about yourself. You deserve better than to hang around such people.
How can you be self-affirming when the people you spend time with don't give you any affirmation? Find new friends who share your interests and who do not put down others. If you see someone treating other people with respect, that is a potential good friend. If you see someone treating other people with condescension or rude put-downs, they are not respecting anyone. You need to cut the ties.
In addition to self esteem you may also need to reset your daily priorities. Maybe you have taken on too many responsibilities and you feel overwhelmed. Make a list of the small things you need to do and focus on accomplishing those tasks. Things will try to creep onto the list but if you have made commitments to people who are not supporting you in your time of need, apologize to them for allowing things to get away and admit you won't be able to fulfill those commitments. Eliminate tasks that feel like unwanted chores from your life as quickly as possible.
Find simple experiences that feel like their own rewards. For example, find places where you can go for quiet walks. These should be short, pleasant walks where you can enjoy the sights, sounds, and aromas of the scenery around you. When you enjoy being there, in the moment, you'll look forward to your next walk.
If you spend a lot of time watching depressing movies and television shows, find a way to get away from the television set. Spend time doing things listening to bright, warm music instead. Play hopeful songs, not sad songs. Watch comedies, not dramas. Learn about history and famous people; stay away from the dreary ghost shows and negative news broadcasts.
Renovating your life is like renovating your home. You're making an investment in yourself and your future. You're throwing out old, rundown parts of your life that no longer bring you joy. You're bringing in new people and experiences that make you feel good about yourself and your life.
We all reach a point where we feel like we need a change. Some people need more drastic changes than others. Whatever your emotional needs are, take care of them. Don't allow things to get worse. Find a way to start working toward a more satisfying, happy life.