Motivation
So, you just spent 30 minutes on Tic-Tok, another 30 minutes or more scrolling through and liking post on Facebook, Instagram and you listened to 4 or more short videos on YouTube and now you feel depleted because you just lost over an hour of your life that you can’t get back. It is time to get up and do the chores or go to work but you just don’t have any motivation. Why is that? Why is it so hard to get up and go to work, do the homework or the chores or even get up out the house and be with people etc.… Does this sound familiar? I believe it is getting more and more common these post covid days. It seems that since the covid shut down there has been an increase in the loss of motivation for many. Today we are going to look in to why we have lost or “mojo” and how to get it back.
There are new studies in the field of neuroscience that say that there is a chemical in our brains and body called dopamine. Not that dopamine is a new scientific breakthrough but understanding the way it works as it relates to our brains i.e., our habits, desires and memories, fight or flight and risk and rewards, things like these. All these emotions and feelings and senses play a part in our motivation.
What depletes motivation? Obviously, the list can be exhausting but for the purpose of this motivational blog and assuming you do not have some serious medical condition that inhibits the normal flow of these chemicals, I am going to keep the list as simple as possible and you can fill in the rest. And even if you do (have chemical a imbalance) the LORD can heal you from it and the lack of motivation too. When we feed our brain for example all these short technological stories, feelings, visuals etc., it of sorts, injects our brains with small shots of dopamine. Which is a pleasure chemical engineered by God to give us motivation, to hunt and gather, create and build and derive pleasure from these other similar pursuits. When we receive all these quick dumps of dopamine pleasure shots through all our social media and visual stimulants and all its variants it just plain makes it harder to enjoy the task of some of our other required activities.
So how do we find our motivation? How do we get our “mojo” back? I am going to give you just a few things to help refill your joy tank. #1 unplug! Not that you have to unplug forever but for a season to reset your internal core. Social media, cell phones and similar mediums are not going away anytime soon. Give your mind a rest from the constant barrage of quick hits. #2 Take time to retreat and enjoy the pleasure of hard work or a sunset on the back porch and just observe. #3 Do something strenuous: take a walk, ride a bike, climb a hill, run a mile, even a 10-minute cold shower, walking in the cold air without a heavy jacket does wonders for your motivation. After you try one of more of these things go back to your chores etc., then “tell” “yourself” that you want to do engage in these meaningful activities and that you chose to enjoy them. Watch what happens.
Here is a scripture to make this blog spiritually legal for you lol!
1Ti 1:19 NLT - Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith (in this case your mind) has been shipwrecked.
This scripture may seem a little obscure, well maybe a lot, but non the less I encourage you to think about it.
How can I pray for you? Prayer page — Vineyard Moss Bluff (vineyardmb.org)
~pastor Tim