Do you ever feel a bit blah, aimless and like the year ahead isn’t really giving you any cause for excitement? You’re not exactly burned out as you still have some energy, and you're not exactly depressed as you still have some hope but you find yourself feeling a bit stagnant and empty.  Well according to a recent New York Times article there is a name for this ho hum feeling and it is called Languishing. 

One of my close friends shared the article with myself and a group of our girlfriends who chat together on social media (we at least until we can finally meet up again for dinner in real life) and I was honestly surprised by how many of them said that they could relate to this feeling. They felt that this article really hit the mark in regards to capturing the essence of this general funk we’ve been in since last spring when Covid-19 rocked the world. Living through multiple shutdowns, lockdowns, social distancing, virtual workplaces and virtual learning, coupled with an unplanned rapid change in our lifestyle and routines have left people grieving for the loss of their past “normal” lives. A huge segment of the population is waking up day to day with little to no gusto or drive and just not thriving in their day. The author of the article describes the state of languishing as the neglected middle child of mental health. He describes languishing as the middle ground between depression and flourishing and predicts that it very well could become the dominant emotion of 2021. Really? Is that not making your heart ache right now? Knowing that as a society that is where many people are at? Languishing. 

This week in Canada is being recognized across the nation as Canadian Mental Health Week. Mental Health is in the foreground this week and I thought that discussing the state of languishing that so many people are relating to should also be part of the conversation as well. 

Sprinkled throughout the article are terms such as: burnout, joyless, aimless, stagnation, emptiness, foggy, uncertain, struggling emotionally, drained, an absence of well being and dull. My sister, does that describe how you are feeling? Do those emotions hit hard as ones that you can totally relate to? Does that sum up your current mood? Do you feel trapped in the abyss of blahness that is labelled as languishing?  How can you move from languishing to flourishing? Flourishing! ohhh There’s a motivated and intentional word for you! After all, don't we all want to wake up each day flourishing? Thriving in a peak state of well being, ready to live the day with meaning with a strong sense of purpose and direction. How can you transition from feeling blue and down to feeling uplifted and full of joy? 

Sounds to me like right now would be the perfect time to sprinkle a little bit of God’s word into this discussion. We might think of Languishing as a new term, coined recently by a sociologist or graduate student studying society’s level of happiness. In fact though, the bible names it in the book of Jerimiah and provides a remedy for it. Jeremiah Chapter 31 verse 25 says: “For I satisfy the weary soul and refresh everyone who languishes” Did you hear that my friend, “For I satisfy the weary soul and refresh everyone who languishes”...refresh, ahhh, like an oasis in the middle of a dessert, Christ can satisfy and refresh our languishing souls. Satisfied, refreshed, thriving, flourishing, joy, happiness, meaning, purpose, are those not the descriptors you’d rather use to describe your life? Like a weary traveler refreshing in a river, you can refresh your heart by allowing the holy spirit to flow into it. A heart has less room for languishing in blahness if it is flourishing and full of the beautiful joy that only Christ can truly bring into it. 

Want to know what has a kryptonite effect on languishing? Gratitude for the basics and blessings passed forward. Ok wait what? Let me clarify. I’m going to go ahead and break it down into individual components. First I’ll explain Gratitude for the basics and then explain blessings passed forward and show you how they are so intertwined and can take you from languishing to flourishing in a surprisingly short amount of time. 

First-Gratitude for the basics, simply put if you decide to focus on what you are grateful for each and every day then you have less time to focus on the things you feel are missing from your life that you think are required to feel fulfilled. What are the basics girls? Come on you know these...food, water, shelter, clothing (that could technically be an option, but rather important during a Canadian Winter I would argue). Then we also have love, and safety and some form of income to be able to pay for the basics in a currency driven world. These are the basics that are required to flourish. These are the basics ladies! Everything else is bonus and thus not worth focusing on when in an emotional rut. Being bummed out that you aren’t driving the current year’s model of luxury SUV or putting your child into advanced pointe ballet isn’t going to get you out of a rut. Being grateful for what you do have and being laser focused on that will begin to bring you to a place where you finally begin to see some light at the end of a dim tunnel. You may not feel that you have many blessings to be grateful for at this moment, but I’m going to go out on a limb here to say that if you are listening to this podcast on an electronic device of some sort then you’re likely in a better position than you think. If you aren’t too worried about where your next meal is coming from or if you will encounter a landmine on your walk to the community well this morning to get water than you are in a position of privilege. Be honest, you sister are in such a place of privilege when compared to billions of other people sharing this planet with us. You most likely have all of the basics: food, clean water, shelter, clothing, love, safety and some form of family income or access to government assistance to ensure that the first items I listed are accessible. So let's start small by thanking God for each and every blessing you encounter in the day. By intentionally pausing and explicitly saying thank you with a grateful heart the languishing you feel will begin to subside. Don’t believe me? Let’s try together....did you open your eyes to a brand new day today with breath in your lungs and a heart that was beating? Thank God for that because it’s a gift today that not everyone was given. Did you get to brush your teeth with running water from a tap and then use an actual toilet and not simply a hole in the ground? Thank God for that because it’s a privilege today that not everyone was given. Did you get to go to the fridge and pantry and debate what it is you wanted to have for your first meal today? Thank God for that because it’s a luxury that not everyone has. Did you get to wake up your son or daughter or speak to them today? Honey thank God for that because that’s a blessing not everyone gets to enjoy today. If you got to wake up in a bed, say have a great day or I love you to your spouse, open up a closet door, clock in at your job, put gas in your car or facetime with a friend, than you have more to be thankful for than a large majority of the world’s population. All blessings come from above so take time today to give a moment of gratitude for each one that you will receive in this day of life. Literally say “Thank you Lord for whatever it is again and again throughout the day because it all comes from him. Within a short while the feeling of blah you once felt, will have nowhere to go but out of your heart. 

Here’s the very important second part to all of this though that I had mentioned before that I would elaborate on. The second component is to pass your blessings forward. Now before you roll your eyes and tell me you don't’ have time to be baking cupcakes today for a neighbour or making a lasagna for a senior citizen this is not what I’m getting at. When I say pass your blessings forward I mean through prayer. Here is how it works: remember all of the things you are going to pause and give gratitude for today? Well here’s the next step to that. After you thank God for the breath of life you woke up with, I want you to then follow it with a sincere from the heart desire for God to bless the family members of someone who didn’t get that gift today. I want you to pray for them, complete and utter strangers, who you aren’t even aware of their circumstances, I want you to pray that God grants peace and comfort to those today dealing with the loss of a loved one because we know there are people out there living that reality today. Then when you grab that bagel out of the cupboard and push the button down on the toaster I not only want you to give great thanks for the food you are preparing that will fill your belly, but I want you to then pray for those who do not get to have a meal today, I want you to ask God to provide for others who do not have this same option today. When you go for a walk during your lunch break, I want you to not only thank God for the fact that you have legs you can walk with and lungs that are strong, but that you aren’t living in a state of fear about having to run for cover from an explosive device or being kidnapped and held for ransom, because in all honesty many women are living that reality right somewhere else on earth. Please then ask God to protect and care for those who might have experienced trauma or terror today. Pray for those laying in hospital beds who in long term care who would trade places with you in an instant to get out for a stroll and some fresh air. When you kiss your kids goodnight tonight, I don’t want you to just give thanks for the blessing that it is, but I want you to humbly and selflessly ask God to pour healing and comfort into the hearts of the mama’s out there who can’t do the same thing this evening, who have lost their child far too soon and would give anything for what you have. 

You see my friend when you not only take the opportunity to fill your cup with gratitude, but then fill someone else's at the same time through prayer you won’t be able to feel blah anymore. You begin to feel overjoyed by simply praying for others, because you are making a difference in the world, you are asking God to go into those situations and  pour his blessings on others, complete strangers, people you don’t even know about, or where they are, but you know they are out there. That is power, that is fulfilling, that is what fills an empty heart and allows it to flourish. 

We have 1001 ways to distract ourselves while feeling blah, we can play games on our phones, watch endless tv series and scroll social media until our eyes bleed. But girl it’s not until you focus on goodness and pray to fill the cup of others that your heart begins to feel whole once again. Distractions do just that...distract.  Secular belief wants us to feel that we can cure our woes by focusing in on ourselves and investigating what it is that is making us feel blah. Why not try focusing out, focus on the gifts from above, focus on those in need, focus on filling the cup of someone else which allows God to fill yours at the same time. Gratitude nourishes the soul, praying for others soothes the soul allowing Christ to work within our hearts. He provides that refreshment for the weary soul that we heard about from the book of Jeremiah. Christ has promised to satisfy the soul of anyone who languishes, let’s stop looking inward and begin to look outward, let’s not allow Languishing to become the dominant emotion of 2021, or anything you continue to experience this year. It’s time to flourish...

Come on, pray with me now.