David via Compfight

Just when things are marching along and going really well, life usually steps in and throws me a curve ball.  Often, these curve balls leave me feeling completely deflated emotionally.  A fantastic week suddenly feels like, “What’s the point, I’ll never stop struggling.”

This cycle happens for me over and over again.  I recognize it, but I don’t know how to stop it.  I don’t even know if it CAN be stopped.  I get pumped up, filled full of optimism, hope, and joy, then something comes along to let all the air out of my balloon and I’m back to being deflated again.

My heart… my emotional heart… feels like a giant balloon.  I work and work and work to fill it up, fighting off depression and despair, laziness and sloth.

I know what fills up my emotional balloon and staves off the blues:

• Exercise.  The more the better.  The more consistent the better..
• Prayer, quiet time, talking to God…
• Yoga ( because it’s exercise, quiet time, and talking to God all rolled into one.) It’s beautifully soothing….
• Blogging, a place and time to reflect and get some of the thoughts out of my head…
• Journaling, a more private, less structured way to let the creativity flow and soothe my soul…
• Even eating healthy clean foods has helped me fill up with positive energy…

All of these things fill up my emotional balloon….

But no matter what I do, something always lets the air back out.

Things like:

• Stress little by little, tiny things add up eventually
• Huge life stresses like illness, relationship struggles, finances, and more…
• Overcommitted &/or overwhelmed in life with busy schedules…
• Tired…not enough sleep lets the air out fast…
• Things outside my control…

They deflate my emotional balloon so much faster than I can fill it up sometimes.

At what point do you decide that no matter how hard you huff and puff to keep the balloon full, it’s not enough to keep it from deflating again?

At what point do you decide you need help from outside yourself to keep your balloon filled?

Life is filled with ups and downs.  

Nothing is going to change that.  

But shouldn’t our emotional balloons be filled more than they are deflated?

Where do you draw that line and ask for help?

I wish I had an answer for you, but this is something I’m struggling with myself.  I will say this:  If you think it’s possible that you might need help… go find someone and ask for some.

I’m pretty sure God doesn’t want you struggling alone.