What is Motivation?
Motivation can be hard to come by when you’re feeling depressed, anxious, or just down in general. Whether you struggle with mental illness or are simply up against other roadblocks in life, it can be tough to get motivated. Think about when you’re down and call a friend to get comfort or advice regarding a problem that you’re having. They’ll encourage you to the best of their ability. They’ll remind you of who you are and your best attributes. That’s what a motivational meme can do as well. Motivational memes have some short sayings that can remind you of the fact that you’ll get through some of the difficult times in life. Here are some examples.
- Don’t give up
- You got this
- It’s your life, live it how you need to
- Your story isn’t over
- Believe in yourself
- Change comes from within you
- Focus on the present
- Be here right now
These are some expressions that you may see as memes. You can save them on your tablet, phone, or wherever you might look at them. Maybe you want to print them out to remind you that the hard times will pass and that you’ll get through it.
Finding motivation when you’re feeling down
Depression is an extremely common mental illness. It’s noted that there are over 19 million adults in the United States that have experienced a major depressive episode (Source: web MD article, linked). Depression can range in terms of severity, and the length of a depressive episode will vary from person to person. It can be caused by trauma, life circumstances, genetics, and other factors. It can be one episode or chronic episodes. Here are some symptoms of depression:
- Depressive thoughts
- Chronic insomnia or sleeping too much
- Lack of pleasure in things you used to enjoy
- Low self-esteem
- Lack of energy
- Restlessness
- Changes in appetite
- Isolating from friends or family
What can you do when you feel depressed?
Motivational memes can help you and remind you that you will be able to get through difficult times, and with that meme, there are other things you can do.
Take things one small step at a time
One thing that you can do is get outside and take a walk. It may seem really difficult to fight the urge to lay in bed, but take one step at a time – literally. Put one foot in front of the other and do things little by little, even if it is just washing a few dishes or texting one friend. If you break things down step by step, they’re likely to seem a little bit less overwhelming. Once you get outside even for a short walk, you’ll feel the fresh are hit your body and you’ll start to feel more activated rather than sedentary. Your brain will react to the stimulus around you, and you aren’t letting Depression win.
See your loved ones
When you reach out to people that care about you, you’ll feel validated. It might be hard to see friends and family because you might want to isolate, but try to fight those urges. Even if you send a friend one text to check on how they’re doing, it can help you. Checking in on others to see how they’re doing can open to door to reconnect you with friends and can take you out of your own head, even if it is only momentary.
Sleep hygiene is important
Make sure that you practice good sleep hygiene and have a routine so that you can ensure that you get adequate sleep at night. Sleeping too much or not enough can hurt your mood in multiple ways, and that’s why it’s important to have good sleep hygiene.
Finding motivation when it’s not easy
Search for motivational memes as a compliment to doing other things that’ll help you when you’re down, but remember that memes are not a substitute for medical or mental health advice. To take care of your mental health adequately, it’s important to seek help from mental health professionals who can offer you the support that you need. You need to do the heavy lifting by going to therapy, reaching out to your support system, and doing the things that might help you as an individual, like writing in a journal or making a list of goals. Making a list of goals can be empowering because, as you move down the list and check them off one by one, you’ll feel accomplished and have a visual to tell you that you’re moving in the right direction. Depression can be debilitating, so seemingly small goals aren’t small at all and everything is worth celebrating. Remember that there are some things in life that you can’t control; life isn’t easy, but if you stay focused and grounded and remind yourself that you’re doing the best that you can, it can help.
Seeking treatment
Therapy can be one of the best things you can do for yourself to stay motivated. With your therapist, you can work on identifying goals, and your therapist will hold you accountable for your goals and help you work through them. You might even make your own motivational memes with your therapist or create sayings or pieces of art that help you. Whether you see a therapist online or in your local area, it’s important to stay grounded and work towards motivation so that you can achieve the things you want to in life. This may be a rough time, but there is hope.