Motivational Monday: Why It's Okay Not To Be Okay

I feel like I haven’t done a ‘Motivational Monday’ post in so long. It’s not really a consistent thing on my blog; I post them whenever I feel the inspiration to do so. In all honesty, these posts are mainly written almost like little “note-to-selfs” that I can look back on - however, if they help out even one other person then that’s great too. Sometimes we need a little a little reminder from a stranger on the internet that we’re never alone in how we feel and that there are always other people who feel the same. 

“It’s okay not to be okay” - a saying that I, at one point, grew tired of. I felt it became so overused and cliched that it almost lost all meaning. However, recently I’ve been feeling that this saying is appropriate as it encapsulates what a great many of us are probably feeling right about now. Of course I’m referring to the lockdown situation which is still in effect. In the beginning, I never really wanted to create content around what’s happening in the world because I know that people are feeling worried, scared and uncertain at this time and I didn’t want to add to it. I quickly realised though that the subject is unavoidable as it is now a large part of our daily lives. 

Life has been put on hold, rather abruptly and unexpectedly. Sure we’ve now had some time to adjust to this new way of life, but things still don’t feel “normal”. When lockdown was first announced in the UK, I tried not to be too fazed by it and saw it more as an opportunity to relax a little and do more of the things I enjoyed. And in the first week, yeah, I did get stuff done and spent more time enjoying the little things and working around a whole new routine and tried to make the best out of it all. However, it wasn’t too long until I  settled more into a routine of unproductiveness - spending long hours just scrolling mindlessly through my phone, ignoring uni work, not checking in with friends or other family members as much, and spending my time just floating through the days, with the occasional walk or bike ride here and there. 

Last week was a little tougher than the others. I’d lost motivation for pretty much anything and felt rubbish that I wasn’t doing anything productive with all this time I have on my hands. I wasn’t feeling my usual self at all. Then, one day as I sat about listening to music, the Jessie J song ‘Who You Are’ came on shuffle and within that song is the line “it’s okay not to be okay” and it got me thinking more on how life is right now - I’d been trying so hard to stay upbeat about everything and trying to find so many things to; basically  just trying to think myself into staying happy and positive all of the time because why shouldn’t I be? I’m at home, I’m staying safe, there’s no reason for me to feel not okay, right?

Well no, in reality, it’s perfectly okay to not be happy and positive all the time right now. No matter what sort of situation you’re in at the moment, it’s absolutely okay to not be okay. To paraphrase Mr. Will Smith, the fresh prince himself, “our lives have been flip turned upside down” and this “new normal” still doesn’t feel quite right. We’re all restricted to what we can do, we can’t see friends, family, the people we love, we can barely leave the house at all - All for a very important reason of course: to save lives.

It’s a really strange, unusual and worrying time so if you aren’t feeling 100% okay right now, that’s okay and you’re not alone. One day this will all be over and life will undoubtedly have to begin to return to the way it was - or even to a new version things - and that’s scary too. 

Some days I am perfectly okay, but I’m learning that on the days I’m perhaps not 100%, that’s okay too. 

Bye for now, xo