Shot Bro

If 2020 was defined by the word ‘unprecedented’ it feels like 2021, or at least August/September 2021, may be defined by the word ‘languishing’.

I love when one word can so accurately capture a feeling, behaviour and even an atmosphere.  Languishing is the sense of becoming feeble, weak or drained of energy and vitality.  Or as Hillary Barry described it on 7 Sharp, feeling ‘meh’.

While not severe enough to be called depression, languishing is a pretty boring place to be.  Drained and low in energy, it can be hard to feel bothered to do much.  For me, a sure sign that I’m languishing is when my bladder is telling me I need to go to the toilet, but I can’t be bothered moving off the couch/chair/bed.

If you wanted to create a recipe for languishing, it would look something like this:

·        cancel plans, reduce social contact, stay home, decrease exercise, over or under sleep, make poor food and drink choices, and add in a good dose of uncertainty. 

Sound like any situation we’re familiar with?

Yep. Lockdown (and even Level 2) is a breeding ground for languishing.  And while a little bit of languishing has a certain appeal (who doesn’t want to languish on the couch with some crap food and Netflix from time to time?) when it carries on for days or weeks, the appeal fades and the ‘meh’ sets in. 

While the ‘Shot Bro’ Bus hits the streets of Auckland on the Covid 19 vaccination trail, we could do with a ‘Shot Bro’ languishing antidote too. Vaccination might be uncomfortable initially but we choose to have these protect us and others in the future.  We can think about the languishing antidote in a similar way.  It might feel a bit uncomfortable initially (particularly if we’re deep in our languishing state, on the couch with a bursting bladder) but the antidote will protect our health and wellbeing in the future. Emotions are contagious, which means we often feel what others feel.  Surround ourselves with others who are languishing and we feel it more acutely.  Protect ourselves from languishing and that protection will ripple out to others, even if that ripple is via Zoom.

So what’s the antidote to languishing? No fancy mRNA formulas here – it’s simply a matter of establishing a routine and doing something!

Make plans (even if they are scaled back from the ideal), connect with people while following the rules, get outside whenever you can, make exercise a priority, stick to a healthy sleep routine and nourish your body with what you put in it. For more languishing antidotes, check out my blog posts on lockdown tips and temptation bundling.

While much of the uncertainty in our environment is outside of our control, many of the languishing antidotes are within our control. When your precious energy is focused on what you can control, you’re better placed to turn that languishing into flourishing. Shot Bro!