1. Focus on the good.
If I had to take a guess I’d imagine that you’re only focusing on the bad things in your life you’re experiencing right now. You’re not thinking about the good because the good things are mundane things, you just expect them to work out in everyday life. But take a break from the bad and remember the good, and appreciate the good. Think of the small victories you’d usually celebrate, eat your favorite meal and smile.
2. Bad things are completely inevitable.
No matter how prepared you think you might be or how many times you’ve double-checked to make sure everything is okay, you will still mess up sooner or later, it’s the human in you. Bad things will still happen because most of the bad things that happen in our lives are out of our control.
3. Keep pushing forward.
Keep telling yourself everything will be okay, because it absolutely will be, it just might take some time and when things aren’t going our way we don’t want to wait around, we want answers and we want them now.
4. Remember to breathe.
Seriously, remember to breathe. Take a breath in and let it out, things will be okay. Light some candles, get in your zen mindset and relax because taking one extra minute out of your day won’t slow the process down, but it could be exactly what your mental health needs.
5. Remember who you are.
Don’t lose yourself in the bad times. Stay in control of the situations, do everything you can to make sure the bad gets smoothed out as quickly as possible because you deserve some ease. Don’t push out the people who are trying to help you during these times and don’t burn bridges, keep your natural mindset in spite of this disaster.
6. Look for the lessons.
The most cliché one yet, but seriously, look for the lessons, look what you can take away from the mistakes you’ve made along the way. Use those lessons to motivate you for next time and to share with the people around you so they don’t have to go through the same stress you’re going through right now. Use it to be smarter next time so there isn’t a next time.
7. Bad things happen all the time.
It’s just the truth, you are by no means the only person going through hard times, remember that. Sometimes it might feel like the world is out to get you, but you’re not the number one person on the list. There are people who have it plenty worse than you do, so it’s always good to check yourself and your privilege and take a look at how big the problem in your life really is.
8. You’re allowed to feel stressed.
On a different note, just because people have it worse doesn’t make your problems any less important because to you those things matter. That’s why you have such strong feelings of doubt in your mind because you just want everything to work out swimmingly. And they will.
9. Your reaction can make or break you.
How we react to hard times shows a lot about who we are as a person. We can sit and sulk over what happened, we can cry, look for sympathy, act like things are never going to improve or we can get up and do something about it. You can stop feeling sorry and take action, you can make the best out of the situation you’re in and you can improve it to the best of your ability.
10. Remember that bad things always pass.
Remember that one time when ________? Fill in the blank with whatever that was, the one time your car died on the side of the road and you were stuck for hours in the middle of no where, or maybe that time you screwed up your taxes. Think about whatever “it” is to you and realize how much of a big deal you thought it was at the time and think of how little importance that has in your life now.
Things will work out. They always do.