This Too Shall Pass.

Ray Lamontagne said it best when he said, "Will I always feel this way...so empty, so estranged..." 

This empty is the kind of feeling that seems to come with a bottomless pit of despair at no extra charge.  It's mind-numbing and can send you into a funk that leaves you completely disillusioned.  It causes anxiety that whispers to you that nothing will ever be okay.  Sound familiar?

I have felt this.  I have felt this on more than one occasion.  I would find myself unable to believe that good things would ever be possible.  And I really couldn't tell you how I ever got to that point.  The feeling seemed to sneak up on me and poke me in the eyes.  I had zero clarity on anything.  But what's even crazier is that I was completely aware that I was in a funk and needed to get out.  It's kind of like being awake, but dreaming at the same time.  The panic I had for everyday life is almost impossible to describe. Then one day I just woke up.  It's like my body and brain decided enough was enough.

I'm sure that on some level, we've all found ourselves here.  We wonder "why me?"  Sometimes we might even pray to God (or anything that's out there) to get us out of such misery.  It consumes us, all the while life is passing us by as if nothing has happened.  We feel forgotten.  But what is this feeling that we have? Where does it come from? And how do we progress out of it?  I know that for me, I found myself in this place when things were not going well.  I felt it while I sat at home waiting for my phone to ring or when the bank account had run to almost empty.  I would feel as if the whole world had suddenly, and for no reason, turned its' back on me.  Realistic? Not really.  But that's how I felt.

See the pattern?  All of these feelings.  I had to come to the realization that my feelings are not always based in reality.  I think that there are many times that we forget that life happens.  People happen.  And though we may have played a role in a relational or business failure, life still goes on.  We have to find the ability to drag ourselves out of the gutter and start moving forward.  This may seem very simple to understand, but while you're in the midst of it, you find it almost impossible to implement. But again, Ray Lamontagne described getting out of this funk best when he said, "Well I've looked my demons in the eyes, laid bare my chest and said 'do your best to destroy me'. I've been to hell and back and I must admit you kind of bore me." We are given a choice.  We can choose to wallow in our hurt, disillusionment, and anger, or we can get up and decide that enough is enough.

I know that we will all hurt and be hurt, but make the choice to drag yourself out of the gutter of self-pity.  It will be a process that may be both painful and eye-opening.  Yet, at the end of it all, you will remember that this too shall pass.  And when it passes, you will be a better person.