How to Quickly and Easily Snap Yourself Out of a Funk

You have a built-in warning system!

Do you ever get into a funk and find it hard to pull yourself out of it? It might be that you’re feeling down, or perhaps you get yourself all worked up over something someone said or did. One thought leads to another, and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of what I like to call a “thought storm.”

Thought storms can be small, like a localized thunderstorm, or massive, like a hurricane with a few tornadoes thrown in. Sometimes the more significant it becomes, the harder it is to snap out of that funk.

This morning, I woke up and read something that a friend posted on Facebook. Before I knew it, I was all worked, and I hadn’t even showered yet! I started to have angry and judgmental thoughts about something he’d done.

The thought storm often produces a downward spiral. In my own experience, the farther down that slippery slope I fall, the harder it is to claw my way back up once again. So the idea is that you want to catch it before it gets too bad.

So let’s take a step back and look at where that feeling of anger or judgment came from. In fact, where does ANY feeling come from?

Feelings can only ever come from one thing — your thinking!

If I go back to what happened to me this morning, I started to have angry and judgmental thoughts as soon as I read that Facebook post. We always notice the feeling, but we’re often unaware of the thoughts that preceded it. But trust me, there was most definitely a thought that caused the feeling.

“What’s so earth-shattering about this?” you might ask.

It wasn’t the Facebook post or the person who wrote it that caused my morning funk. It was MY THINKING about the Facebook post and that person that was the cause.

That person didn’t do anything wrong. And if I were to read that same post another time when I was in another frame of mind, I might have a completely different reaction.

So the “AH-HA Moment” here is that it was all down to me and my thinking. It had nothing to do with anyone else. That means that it was also within my power and control to change things and get out of that funk.

Ideally, you want to catch it before it turns into a hurricane with a few tornadoes thrown in, but how can you do this?

Your feelings are like the warning lights on the dashboard of a car. As soon as you feel ANY bad feelings, let it be a warning that your thinking is off. You may not even be aware of WHAT you were thinking, but I can assure you that it wasn’t nice.

Say, “STOP IT,” and don’t let yourself slide down that slippery slope of depression, jealousy, sadness, anger, envy, etc. It might sound too simple, but it’s that easy!

Whenever I mention this, it reminds me of that famous sketch from Bob Newhart. Most readers will probably be too young to remember that TV show, but it’s a classic (in my circles). If you’re not familiar with it, have a look below.

So when you start to feel bad, let that be a warning that your thinking has gone awry. Then tell yourself not to go there — distract yourself, think of something else, change the subject, let it go.

You are not depressed, you are only having depressed thinking.

You are not angry, you are only having angry thinking.

You are not judgmental, you are only having judgmental thinking.

Don’ let your thinking define who you are and don’t let your thinking turn into a thought storm that sends you down a slippery mental slope. Take ownership at the first sign of a negative feeling and say, “Stop it.”

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