Bummed, Bored and Blah

Ever suffered from the “3 B’s”?  Bummed, bored and blah?  Bummed is simply feeling down…Frustrated, upset, maybe stressed, but definitely “down in the dumps”, as it used to be called.  Lisa Simpson once famously said, “I’m down so low if I cheered up, I’d still be depressed.”

Then, there’s boredom.  It’s defined as “wearied by dullness”.  Let’s face it:  not everyone’s life is constantly exciting.  Many things are just routine.

How about blah?  Sometimes we feel blah when we’re beginning to get sick and have no energy.  Blah without illness is just finding things uninteresting.  Well.. you’ve come this far with me.  Are you suddenly feeling all of these things just by reading about them?  Or, have these last few weeks brought you – initially some prized time to rest from the frantic pace you usually keep, but now the novelty has worn thin and you’d like to get back to some sense of normalcy?

Life may not go back to what we once knew as “normal” – not totally, anyway.  And, guess what?  There may be other times when being bummed and bored and blah may strike again.

I got thinking about this as I was facing these feelings myself.  It occurred to me that there IS a solution, but it’s up to us to IMPLEMENT it.  When we’re bummed, it’s because we’re focusing on our circumstances and what’s right in front of us – on the temporal.  If we were to focus on the Lord, that feeling could be replaced.  We bring nothing but ourselves to the table.  He offers us everything.  We often talk about love, but He IS love.  Let’s not discount that and miss out.

What do we do with boredom?  How about focusing on others instead of self?  There’s always someone who has more troubles than you or I do.  There is always someone who could use a phone call, a note, an email, a smile, a meal.  Even a hug when we’re allowed to do that again.

That leaves the blah feeling.  Now it’s time to deal with you (& me!). Not to wallow in that feeling, but to get up and DO something.  Take a walk and enjoy the fresh air.  Get some exercise.  My sister-in-law used to say, “Work it off!”  It’s amazing what some trimming or raking or getting your hands in the dirt can do.  It gets your mind off of how you’re feeling and on to something else.  Something more productive.  Even reading a book to learn something new is helpful.

Interestingly, the cure may take some effort.  But, look at what it accomplishes:

For bummed:     J esus

For bored:          O thers

For blah:             Y ou

Guess we have to decide which we prefer:  the “3B’s” or JOY?