Some situations make it very difficult to hold on. We might feel like we’re clinging to the icy side of a mountain as we deal with unemployment, illness, divorce, parenting issues, or any of countless other seemingly insurmountable problems. Yet, one way or another, however slippery the slope, we manage to keep moving on our journeys.
What tools help you to hold on when the going get s rough?
Faith, friends and friends help me to hold on when things are going rough.
Let’s see…
I challenge negative thoughts. Sometimes I also designate a 15-30 minute period to actively worry just to see what’s going on and get it out of my system. Then it’s back to challenging negative thoughts.
I look for the positive side of things. I write down what I appreciated about each day every night in my journal.
I reach out to my friends, medical professionals, crisis line workers, support groups, and dogs for support.
I try to find ways to solve the problem and help to do so.
I do non-harmful things I actually want to do, if there is anything (play or listen to music, read, connect through the Internet, write, etc.).
I do my best to get enough sleep, eat well, and exercise (mostly by walking my dogs).
I take my medication as prescribed.
I do progressive relaxation while laying on a hot rice sack, meditating, using my emWave or otherwise get some down time.
Sometimes I pray.
I tell myself that this, too, will pass. I often have really bad episodes, but they always end. I’m never symptom-free, but I can feel more-or-less okay. This sort of thing usually works for non-illness related problems as well.
Sometimes none of that helps. Then I start weighing alternatives more consciously. Living in a healthy manner has won out for quite a few years now. If I need to go to a hospital to do that, I go. The thing is, most mental hospitals aren’t exactly pleasant, so I usually vote for sheer stubbornness and wind up chanting “I won’t” or something similar over and over in my head. While it doesn’t actually make me any happier or my problems any smaller, it has kept me alive and in once piece quite often – and, as I said in the previous paragraph, it passes. It always does. It’s hard to remember that, but it’s true.