When Life Gets Hard, Keep Moving Forward, One Step, One Smile, One Challenge At a Time. ( Long Post Ahead ) Prepare your coffee cup!
Most of us will experience hard choices, stressful events, and difficult situations that will impact us in one way or another for the rest of our lives.
Hard times happen. They teach us lessons, make us stronger, and give us a deeper sense of self. After all, would sitting in the sun mean as much if you hadn’t of experienced the storm first?
I challenge you to tell me if there is ANYONE in this Past Year who has Not Been Affected by either the pandemic or other forms of hardship!!
Some heartfelt tips to anyone needing this today…
1. Confront your struggles head on.
We want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine, as if these bad things aren’t happening to us. We try to numb ourselves from the pain and reality of the situation. I know I do this. But eventually, you have to face it head on. There is no other way.
There will be times of great heartache when you are forced to make life-altering decisions in which your mind and emotions will play opposing roles. With some of what I have faced, I had to make logical, sound decisions based on the facts available to me at the time. I certainly didn’t discount my emotions, but I moved through them with my eyes wide open.
2. Realize it’s a process, and the process takes time.
Nothing will happen right away. It will take time, and you will travel from one emotion to another and then back again. And it takes as long as it takes. These things cannot be rushed.
Also, we have to remember to take it easy on ourselves throughout the process. I’m human, not Wonder Woman. Although I like to think that maybe Wonder Woman wouldn’t have survived everything I have sometimes.
3. Kick, scream, get your groove on, and then get spiritual with it.
Realize that it’s okay to be angry. Find constructive, creative ways to let your feelings flow out of you.
Climb a hill and once you get to the top, scream until your heart is content. Paint something. Dance even if you are not in the best of moods. Beat up your bedding. It’ll only make it more comfortable. Get in some serious cardio, if you can—do try dance. Make yourself really sweat. Then try yoga and/or meditation to even you out.
Dig down deep and take a look inside yourself for what you believe. Whatever higher power, spiritual path, or religious belief gives your soul comfort—whether it’s at home, out in nature, in a church, encircled by loved ones, or in solitude—take a look at finding out what that is.
4. Play out your fears about a situation.
With any given situation, play out the scenarios and then ask yourself, “and then what?” What will I do if this happens next? Keep asking what you’ll do next, how you’ll continue moving forward. This will move you from a fearful, stuck mindset into a more active, productive mindset.
5. Accept that not everyone will have your back.
This may be the hardest lesson to learn. Surprisingly, these are often people you thought you could count on the most. Still, others will not only step up, but they will hold you up through the worst of it.
On the , other hand this also teaches us to be more grateful for each relationship, past and present, good and bad. Some of these people will be your greatest teachers in life, whether you or they know it or not. The best lesson I learned is that you have to keep your focus on the people who stick around instead of the ones who bail out.
6. Change your perspective.
I now choose to believe that adversity is meant to knock us on course, not the other way round. Focus on looking at the situation differently.This will help get you through each day.
Even recently, I beat myself up over not achieving all the things I planned .. But wait a minute!! I achieved a million others !!! This has to be enough for now. Just as I am, I am enough.
7. Look forward to the sunshine.
After every storm there is calm, and then the sun shines. If you keep remembering that, you will make it through.
Give yourself the opportunity to feel and process every thought and emotion. This is what the experience calls for. We all know what happens if we bypass or bury our emotions. We must allow the process to happen and give ourselves the space and time to feel everything.
Eventually, hopefully, we find ourselves grateful for those hard times, which in turn may make us appreciate the good times even more. I am continually working on all of this, but then again, isn’t that the point?
I genuinely send love over the internet to whoever needs it today.
xxx
Grazielle
