Written by: Maria Williams
No one wants to go through stressful situations, but in life it happens. Your response to what happens can allow the process of you going through it easier or harder. Here are great choices to make when life comes at you hard.
Take a deep breath.
Sometimes you just have to stop talking and just breathe. In time of hardship and stress, it’s so easy to spiral in your head. Instead of spiraling, do yourself a favor and breathe. Don’t say a word. Do what the Bible says and “be still.” It’s not as bad as our mind likes to make us think it is. When you’re doing nothing but thinking about the problem of course your problem won’t be solved.
“Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite.” D. Antoinette Foy
“I have so much chaos in my life, it’s become normal. You become used to it. You have to just relax, calm down, take a deep breath and try to see how you can make things work rather than complain about how they’re wrong.” Tom Welling
Read a book
Go find a calming book to take your mind off the pain. Reading a book is a great exercise for the brain, helps you to gain knowledge, and helps you to reduce stress. When I’m stressed and I start overthinking I like to run to the Scriptures. I encourage you to do the same. Go find Bible verses that remind you to trust God.
“I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn’t be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage.” – Roald Dahl
“Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.” – Nora Ephron
Get some sleep
Something that I struggle with is getting a good night’s sleep. I say this to you because I understand the effects of not getting good rest and what it does to the mind in body. When you don’t sleep, it’s harder to overcome any pain that you may be facing. You become more irritable. You become more emotional and it’s harder to process because you can’t think clearly. You might be thinking to yourself, I can’t go to sleep, but I’m here to tell you, that yes you can. Go to your local store and buy some melatonin and tart cherry and find a pillow. Sleep is crucial for the hurting soul.
“No wonder Sleeping Beauty looked so good…she took long naps, never got old, and didn’t have to do anything but snore to get her Prince Charming.” ― Olive Green
“People say, ‘I’m going to sleep now,’ as if it were nothing. But it’s really a bizarre activity. ‘For the next several hours, while the sun is gone, I’m going to become unconscious, temporarily losing command over everything I know and understand. When the sun returns, I will resume my life.'” — George Carlin
Find people to talk to.
There is a time to be alone and there is a time to surround yourself with people. When we are in pain and full of stress, that is the time to allow your friends to be friends. That is the time to be vulnerable and seek help from others. Isolation can lead to feeling alone and it can cause deceptive voices to influence you. You are not weak if you share with others. That is a total lie that needs to be removed from your mind. You are strong when you share. Make sure that you are surrounding yourself with community and trusted people.
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King
“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Conclusion
Take care of yourself. Don’t start following these tips tomorrow. Start today!
