Does it ever seem like when you’re already past your breaking point, something else hits you and leaves you lying on the floor? Or maybe the one thing you hate most in life, the circumstance that you just want GONE NOW, seems like it is and will last forever. In moments like these, we all, whether we know it or not, find ways to cope. To cope with the circumstance itself, to cope with emotions that get tied in, and to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Before I start telling you how I aspire to deal with the times I just can’t handle, I would ask you to take a look at yourself. What are the small, daily tasks, thoughts, and beliefs that you do to help get yourself through? For me, I tend to shut down. No one else exists in the world when I am hurting but me and my pain. I have a hard time enjoying or relating to my friends and sometimes even my husband. I feel lonely, and I isolate myself even more with my habits.
But there is a different way to cope. A way that I aspire to when times are tough and I am beyond spent. It involves changing how you think. Often the circumstances we are in are not in our control to change. In this case, the only way we can find joy in these seasons, is to begin to think differently. Instead of repeating to myself in my mind how much I dislike my current situation and how hard it is for me. I can actively pick one good thing that happened today or one thing I see I am learning, and think on that instead.
I would even challenge you to write these positive thoughts down. I certainly do, so I can look at them daily and see that this time isn’t all bad. Now I am not advising anyone to live in denial of reality. That has dangers of its own. But, we can be aware of the tough situations and still acknowledge good things too. So grab a pen and a journal when you’ve got nothing left, and find the good in today.