WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE GETS DIFFICULT?USE YOUR TOOLS

No matter who you are, at some point life gets tough. Everyone has their own unique challenges, varying in scope and degree of difficulty, but for everyone, life gets tough at some point.

So what do you do when life gets tough?

Today I'm going to share with you some advice I gave myself when I felt I needed a little help getting back to myself.

I was journaling (writing as therapy) to clear my mind and try to organize what I was feeling or perceiving as chaos, and I wrote to myself:

Tools:

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Something inside me told me, "Use the tools you have that have helped you before." So I titled it "tools" and made a list of things that have helped me in the past.

I thought about all the external resources that helped me return to my senses during times when my mindset wasn't the best. I wrote: affirmations, books, podcasts, running, writing, etc.

Things that, along my personal journey, have helped me focus on becoming a better version of myself. After I did the exercise for myself, I thought I should share it, because I feel like we have tools, and sometimes we just forget to do them because we go on automatic.

If you're here because you feel like life has gotten difficult, the first thing is to tell yourself: calm down, it's okay. You'll be okay; you've been through this, and it happens to all of us.

The second thing is to invite you to do this exercise so that you can use the means at your disposal to return to yourself. Life can certainly get complicated, but you'll never run out of tools. Life, no matter how hard it is, is still a teacher who loves you and will never leave you without tools. It will always provide you with the tools you need to move forward; it just can't take them for you, so here's the exercise.

EXERCISE:

STEP 1:

If you feel like life has gotten difficult and you're feeling a little confused or like you're feeling like there's so many things going on at once that you don't know how to respond, start with a journaling exercise.

Write down everything that's on your mind. Find a space where you can be alone so you can express yourself calmly on paper.

Grab a notebook and start describing what you're feeling. You can be brutally honest, as this exercise is intended to bring you mental clarity and isn't for anyone else to read; this exercise is for you. You can destroy it once you've written it down; the important thing is that it helps you clarify your thoughts and allow you to express how you feel about a certain situation.

Once you've unburdened yourself raw on paper and feel you've transferred your emotions and confusion to your notebook, we can move on to the next step:

STEP 2:

For step 2, you'll write the title: Tools on a new sheet of paper.

Below this, you'll make a list of the tools that have helped you in the past to get back to a winning or more focused mindset.

This list is personal because everyone resonates with different things. I can give you some examples of what has helped me, but the exercise is only powerful if you write down the things that have helped YOU.

Recall times in the past when you've been a little unstable. What helped you get out of there?

It's important to clarify that I'm not talking about distractions, but rather things that will truly help you focus and regain your inner strength and power.

Examples: 

•  Talk to a friend who always gives you a different perspective

• Go for a jog

• Exercise

• Read a book that talks about your injury or what you're going through

• Read a motivational and positive-minded book

• Listen to a podcast

• Do affirmations in the morning

• Meditate

• Challenge yourself to go a whole week without complaining

• Listen to music that lifts your spirits

• Study something you're passionate about

• Socialize with the most positive people you know

• Go to therapy

I insist that these are just examples, but you must choose what resonates with YOU. The most important person here is you. If there's something that resonates with me but doesn't with you, it won't be of any use to you.

The most important thing in life is to study yourself and learn what works for you and what doesn't. You are your own compass. No one in the world can know you better than you know yourself. You live with yourself all the time; you are the one who knows what hurts you, what affects you, what helps you, you are the one who can study every reaction you have. You have that power; don't waste it by disconnecting.

Choose to connect with yourself.

Recognize the tools you have in your hands that serve you and use them! I'm sure you've used some of the things you listed before. If they've already brought you something positive, keep using them! There's no reason to stop using the healthy tools that serve you.

I'm not bringing anything new into your life; it's something you already knew, something that's already been present in your life. Sometimes it's things we simply forget. We forget because life happens, we get caught up in other situations, and sometimes we get distracted from what matters or get sidetracked because so many things happen. It's okay, I think it's normal, and it happens to all of us.

The important thing is to always return to what serves you. No matter how many times you stray, or how many times you forget, the important thing is that you return to yourself. I always say this, and I meant it.

STEP 3: 

Repeat this as many times as you need. I always say it and I'll always continue to say it because it's simply true: life is like this. It's not linear, and even if you do this exercise today and it brings clarity to your life and connects you with the tools that serve you; the truth is that tomorrow you may be unstable again and forget all this. Why? Because that's life, and it's not your fault. That's how existence works; it's a progressive development, a constant change, and it's not linear or something you do once and for all.

It's something that, if you intend to heal and improve, you must embark on the adventure of pursuing your best version and getting up as many times as necessary.

Don't blame yourself for the times you stray from the path, for feeling like a less developed version of yourself. If you're here reading this, you're already far from ordinary. You're looking for a way out, an improvement, and I assure you, the Universe will reward you. Life rewards the brave. If you're here, you have everything you need to do it because you've already put your willpower and your free will toward what you want to be.

As always, I wish you much success on your journey.

I hope you always find the answers you're looking for, that life places all the tools you need in your path.

And that you always find the strength within you to keep going.

Whenever you need a voice of encouragement, I'll always be here to cheer you on.

Love, Mel. ♡

Journaling outdoors, @melsaveyoursoul