I have to be honest…I’ve lost my AWESOME.

I am in a slump.

Yes, the woman who writes to you about being awesome and annoys you with post after post of motivational and inspiring quotes, is in a slump, and even worse, can’t get out!!! It’s true, even the most motivated of us — you, me, Oprah Winfrey — can feel unmotivated at times. In fact, sometimes we get stuck in such a slump that even thinking about digging our way out seems too difficult, even impossible.

I have to admit, I’m feeling pretty low about myself. It’s gotten so bad, that at this point I’ve  worn a hole in the butt of my favourite leggings, me and the pizza delivery guy are on a first name basis, I’m starting to talk to the neighbours cats about life problems, everyone is on my last nerve, and I’ve been playing a serious game of hide and go seek with my friends. Hi my name is Miserable, I have lost my Awesome, my mojo is no mo, and I’m the lamest guest at my one-person pity party. I know, I know, ‘Don’t play the victim Amanda Bay’. I don’t want your sympathy, just ice cream, buckets and buckets of ice cream.

I think we’ve all been there, every last one of us; bored at work, sick of the same routine day in and day out. Feeling frumpy and tired-  wake up, go to work, go to meetings, make dinner, clean the house, go to bed, blah, blah, blah…repeat. Everyone loses motivation and finds  themselves stuck in a rut at one point or another… right? It’s expected to  happen from time to time. After all, we’re human beings. I mean, we were so busy being awesome yesterday, how can we possibly continue that level of awesomeness for another day?

As the story goes, and from past experience, although I know that I will probably be on the upswing shortly, every time I’m here at what I think is rock bottom, I still manage to convince myself that I won’t ever get out. Throw me a safety net! So what do I do? Or perhaps the better question is what shouldn’t I do? Well for starters apparently it’s not a good idea to remain in hiding, distil my own vodka in the basement to weather out the storm, or eat everything in site as a distraction…ice cream still being accepted, preferably rocky-road or double chocolate.

Things will get better…but in the meantime I’m starting to figure out that it’s more about what we do during the wait, how to make the wait worth while, that really gets us out alive. It’s time to exhibit patience (which we all know I don’t have) by actually doing something. Time to turn things around and retire those leggings-eeeeeek! I’m Awesome-McAwesometon and I always have been. Okay, ya I will admit that was pretty lame, I can come up with a better nickname, but my point is, it’s time to remind myself that I am one awesome, badass, bi-atch.

So how to get out of a slump…I’m starting with some advice I’ve picked up over the past couple of weeks while hiding in my cave. Step 1: GET OUT OF BED. Yes I know when the alarm goes off at the crack of dawn it’s tempting to just curl up deeper into your blanket and draw the shades- but time to rise and grind!  Toss your hair in a bun, drink some coffee, put on some gangsta rap –“You gotta get, that, dirt of your shoulder”, and handle it.  Step 2: Update my Facebook status: “It feels great to be up this morning. INSERT lame quote here. You got this! #BayAwesome” Step 3: Out the door with a smile on my face, fake it until make it. (Sounds terrible but “faking it until you make it” has actually been proven to be one hell of a model for success. The best way to get to where you want to be is to act like you are already there.) Step 4: Get going. MOVE. Run up those office stairs Rocky Balboa style, throw up your victory arms and walk into the office with Beyoncé swagger — because really, if you can’t be yourself, you might as well be Beyoncé. Step 5: Continue to smile. Step 6: Eat well and don’t forget to stay active- yoga, workout. YAE to happy endorphins!!!

…Everything is probably happening as it should and as people say ‘happening for a reason’ (I hate when people say that). Maybe I’m only perceiving things as difficulties and struggles because I am labeling them as being bad and terrible. Perhaps I’m failing to realize the benefit waiting for me at the other side of this slump, and well, the truth is, there’s Beyoncé and then there’s the rest of us. She’s the Queen Bey, and well… I’m just Bay. I’m  dealing with it.

Slumps happen, I repeat – SLUMPS DO HAPPEN- as do phases of being really, really awesome. As the Spanish saying goes “Poco a poco va a lejos” — little by little, one goes a long way. In the meantime, wake up, hold your head high, practice honesty (not just with others, but with yourself), make a goal and get excited about it, find inspiration, and remember to breathe, you need to breathe. But most importantly, Bay Awesome, even when your feeling like it is nearly impossible.

Dr.Seuss really wasn’t joking when he said “un-slumping yourself is not easily done”. Which got me thinking… during my travels a year or so ago, there was a little girl sitting with her face pressed up against the plane window, hair braided in pigtails, a Dora the Explorer travel backpack, probably about three years old- cute as a button. As the landing gear came down, and the plane began its decent into the big city, she looked out the window with encouragement and yelled in her sweet little voice “You got this wheels! You got this!”

Chin up. We’ve got this. Smooth landing ahead.

Now go, #BayAwesome xo