Hitting A Slump
Almost every baseball team has a slump at some point during the season. My team, the Texas Rangers, seems to hit its slump during the playoffs. These slumps seem to occur for no reason. I mean, if you’re a Texas Ranger player, what’s more exciting or motivating than to play in the playoffs? Yet, every year they’ve been in the play-offs nothing has gone as expected because it’s the Rangers turn to enter their yearly slump.
That’s what happens during a happiness slump, too. You get up and do the things that you normally do, including the activities that make you smile, but you’re not smiling. Instead, you’re going through the motions, possibly without feeling anything. This can also be a sign of depression which means you should call your doctor. But, sometimes, you’re simply in a happiness slump.
There are a few kinds of slumps, so you need to identify the kind that matches your situation so you can best dump the slump.
4 Happiness Slumps
Situational Slump
Are you dealing with a health issue, job change, friendship challenge, teenager who thinks she knows everything, significant other chaos, or something similar? These are situational challenges, and, as the saying goes, “All things pass.” However, you don’t want to let a temporary situation overshadow all of your happy moments.
Dump the Slump
Situational Slumps make it easy for us to ignore our happy moments. Of course, if you did something to contribute to a situational slump, then you need to be do your part to make the situation better. Sometimes, however, we just have to wait it out—you know, “Have a little patience,” as the saying goes. In the meantime, the Society has 31 Types of Happiness to help you focus on what makes you smile too. Print out our Happiness Counter and fill it out for a few days.
Self-Care Slump
When life gets busy, or we become consumed by chaos, we quit practicing self-care. We may stay up too late, not exercise, eat too many comfort foods, and spend too much time with people drainers—you know, the people who suck the energy right out of us.
Dump the Slump
Set an alarm to remind you it’s time to go to bed so you get your sleep set-point hours — the minimum number of hours you need to sleep to feel good. Walk around your block every day. Eat fewer comfort foods. Some people believe that we become the collective sum of the six people with whom we spend the most time, so spend more time with people who inspire instead of drain you — even if that means making new friends.
Nostalgic Slump
Everyone has slumps that are triggered by a date or experience. Nostalgic Slumps might occur on the anniversary of the death of a loved one. They might happen on someone’s birthday. They might arise on the day something horrible happened. Hearing a song, smelling a certain smell, or going to a specific place may trigger this slump.
Dump the Slump
You can’t stop nostalgic slumps. If one happens on a specific date or at a certain place, you can be aware of it and plan accordingly. In other words, if you know a specific date is usually a blue day for you, don’t plan a huge party that day. Most nostalgic slumps depart as quickly as they come, so it’s simply a matter of honoring them instead of ignoring them. You may need to cry, look at old pictures, or eat your favorite ice cream. In some cases, we even value the bittersweet memories from nostalgic slumps because they are from experiences we wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
Attitude Slump
Sometimes, it’s as if the stars align to make our attitudes stink. It’s not that you want life to feel anything but happy, it just does. If this isn’t a result of one of the other slumps, own your attitude and make adjustments fast.
Dump the Slump
The best way to overcome an attitude slump is to uplift your mind and spirit by helping someone else. Find a place to volunteer so you can meet the people you’re helping. Assist a neighbor. Befriend a child. Help a family member without judgment. Mentor a co-worker. Foster a pet. This does not mean doing something like listening to your friend complain for more times than you can count about her significant other being a jerk. In fact, listening to someone constantly complain about a situation they aren’t interested in improving may be one of the reasons you’re in an attitude slump.
Happiness slumps are temporary and eventually move on so that our smiles can return. When we make an effort to dump the slump it happens a little quicker. Now, if my Texas Rangers can move past their play-off slump this season, one of my situational slumps will end.
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Now it’s your turn. What do you do when you need to dump the slump? Leave a comment below and let us know!! And, if you know someone who could benefit from reading this article, please share it with them! You never know who benefit!
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Written by Pamela Gail
Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998.
The Society is grounded on Pamela’s four key Practical Happiness Principles:
Pamela identified 31 Types of Happiness that are on the SOHP App Happiness Counter to make it easier to recognize moments of happiness.
Pamela also plans and organizes the Society of Happy People's annual happiness celebrations:
She's also a speaker, trainer, and author.
A few of her personal smile starters include her monthly book club, yoga, traveling and meeting new happy people.
I play some of my favorite music…..
Music is a great slump buster.
Blast some hard rock and sing it loud – PS I don’t sing well ?
The timing of this article’s arrival was perfect for me. Thank you so very much.
To dump my slump? I remind myself of who I am, warts and all as the saying goes. I am who I am meant to be, and what I make of myself depends on how I use the tools I have. That each person has a different set of life tools, and mine are right for me. I might not enjoy learning how to use my tools, but they are the ones I have. My weaknesses and strengths both help me to become all I should be. My life path is my own, and it’s exciting to find out where it will lead.
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