Gratitude and Hope in a Funkadelic Ennui

Sometimes, you just have to do the work. There's no magic formula, no little pill. I know this and most of the time I'm OK with it. (part of the beauty of the universe is that this remains true, even if I'm not OK with it - but I digress)

My friend Byron Katie calls it doing the dishes. If you want to get the dishes done, you have to pick one up and wash it. Then you pick up the next one and do the same. One plate, cup or bowl at a time is how you do the dishes.

I'm grateful for this analogy. It can help make overwhelming tasks more manageable. Particularly if that overwhelming task is just living life itself.

Like anything, it's also about practice. Practicing this presence. Being in the moment and remaining focused on the task in front of me gets easier the more I do it. This is an important point for me. It gives me hope that I can learn to move beyond the moments of incapacitation that sometimes come with Funkadelic Ennui. (Funkadelic Ennui?!? - it's what i'm rebranding depression - has a little more flair, don't you think?)

I am learning that the level of happiness I experience is up to me. The universe is abundant in happiness for all. It is up to me whether or not I choose to accept it.

This doesn't mean that I don't experience sadness, frustration, anger or any other emotion that we might see as contrary to happiness. In fact, lately I've had an abundance of funkadelic ennui, among other things, and it will pass when it passes. This is where the beauty of possibility comes in.

I'm funky lately. No problem. Today I am able to remind myself that this is not all I am. I am grateful. Grateful to be loved, grateful to be able to pray, grateful to have the knowledge that this will pass and grateful to be able to keep doing the dishes.

Today I have hope and gratitude in addition to Funkadelic Ennui. I know that life's challenges are also life's lessons. I keep practicing and I keep making mistakes. My joy is that they are new mistakes and new mistakes mean progress.