You’re going through a rough time. How do you cope and manage? How do you stay afloat right now?
1. Acknowledge the difficulty to yourself. “This is really hard for me. I am so stressed. How will I keep doing this?
2. Give yourself permission to be human. There need not be guilt or shame in what you’re feeling. You can be angry, resentful, overwhelmed, grief-stricken, jealous. It’s only when you let yourself feel acknowledge the feelings for what they are that they begin to soften and lesson their tight grip around you.
3. Give yourself some compassion like you would to a friend in need. You’re doing the best you can in the moment. Supportive self-talk can be soothing.
4.”Indulge” in some positive respite. Oftentimes you feel guilty doing something good for yourself when something challenging is going on. It’s at just those times that you need to allow yourself even a few minutes of self-comfort, pleasure, relaxation, healthy distraction. It fills up your inner reservoir and helps keep you going.
5. One step at a time. Keep your eyes focused on where you are and don’t look too far ahead. Some hardships are acute – meaning short in duration; others are chronic, where they’re onging. Either way, staying focused on the present helps you stay grounded on what you need to do right now, both for the other person/situation and for yourselves. Each time you get through one thing, you can feel more adept and able to do the next.
It is most meaningful to me to be a part of your journey as you go and eventually grow through your personal challenges. This can be the part that makes or breaks us. The bigger challenge is in having our difficulties Make us better, stronger, wiser, where we are then able to go on to create meaningful, significant and joyful lives.
