Melinda-nomics Will Pull You Out of a Funk

For those of you old enough to remember, a popular phrase in the 80’s was “Reaganomics” a concept our former President, Ronald Reagan commandeered. He created the “boot strap” mentality meaning if you find yourself in a bad place, then it was up to you to correct the situation because most likely you placed yourself there in the first place. He liked to phrase it as a “take charge approach.” (this is a very brief synopsis, it is actually MUCH more detailed than this summary).

Now, this concept, when applied to such social distortions like poverty did not strike a chord with public service agencies across the country that saw good people fining themselves in a bad situation due to precarious circumstances, and systemic breakdown. Trust me, I am not about to debate social reform, political anarchy, or the general degradation of a relaxed society. Gracious, that would be a lifelong blog entry stretched from here to the moon. No, but I actually wanted to give credit to Reagan as it relates to my recent “personal funk.”

First, my couch is not my friend. Sure, it looks happy and welcoming when you walk into my home but my couch, once I am sunken into the perfectly formed butt divots will not let me go. Because I cannot get up, even to scavenge for food, I am forced to lay there, watch BAD cable shows, talk to the cat when he walks by and drift in and out of naps. Eventually, I find myself in a full on FUNK. The rain has not helped this reality. So hours can pass and I stare at my own ceiling now intimately interrogating my life…the direction, the meaning, the wrongs, the rights. CRAP…I AM a victim of myself.

So, I am busting off the couch. Lately there have been two goals in my life, (1) get on the bike and (2) have a date with my couch. Well, I am pulling up my bootstraps, and I am breaking up with my couch. We can still be friends and certainly we have to get along because WE DO LIVE TOGETHER. But my couch is a life sucker….it makes me think about all the negatives in my life…and then I start to feel sorry for myself. My own pathetic shuffling from one end of the cotton mass to the other is doing NOTHING good for me. So, I have applied my own “Melinda-nomics” and I am pulling myself off that couch one way or the other this weekend. I blame myself and take full responsibility. All the excuses I can come up with are just wasted breaths. I have a long bike ride to do this weekend, friends to hug and love on, and laughter to feel. I know I have taken Regan’s concept way outside its original intentions but there are some adaptations to every idea….and I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN PEEL MYSELF AWAY FROM BUTT DIVOTS.