Never give up on hope
Hope is an old friend of mine. Every time I thought she’d given up on me, she would surprise me and show her friendly face again. She’d give me a big hug and remind me that having her in my life is far better than giving up on her. I have nothing to lose by allowing hope to stay in my life even when it seems she has deserted me forever.
I have hated life at times. I have felt desperately alone and misunderstood. It’s easy to lose hope when life grinds you down. I think we have all been there at some time in our lives. That dark place where it looks like life has got it in for you and is laughing at all your misfortune.
Looking back though, I have the added insight of knowing that life eases up on you eventually, it always does. When life feels like it’s not on your side, try doing this:
Sit tight
Stop resisting what is going on. It is happening. Accept it and work with it as if you had chosen it. Instead of resisting, try to go with the flow more. When you resist, it’s like sitting on a small sailboat on a lake, completely stuck because there’s no wind at all. When we don’t accept what is happening and resist we exhaust ourselves. We blow on the sails will all our might but we still don’t get anywhere. Instead of resisting by thinking “Why me?” or “It’s so unfair”…try dealing with what’s going on. You will be a lot less stressed.
Take life one day at a time
Something that really screws with my head and my emotions are matters of the heart. A break-up, for instance, is hugely crushing and affects me immensely. I feel deeply and give a lot of myself. When going through a break-up, I wish with every part of my being that I could fast forward time, skipping out on a portion of life just to feel better. When you feel lost and life seems unbearable, take life one day at a time. Take it one hour at a time if that’s all you can face. Keep moving forward, toe by toe – you will be moving toward a better place. Change is inevitable and that’s a good thing when you feel you are at rock bottom and can’t sink any lower. You are not alone, there are millions of others hiding under their duvets feeling just as bad as you are and you are all moving forward together, slowly. There is light at the end of the tunnel – it’s called hope.
Distract yourself
Get out of your head. when you are in your head you are often in enemy territory. When we feel sad and low, our thoughts never work for us. See them as thoughts – they are not real, they are just in your head. Ignore the negative ones, change the channel. Keep busy – watch box sets or even better, go to the gym, do some exercise. Exercise is great for releasing endorphins – feel good hormones.
Focus on your strengths
Work on the positives – what are you good at? What’s amazing about you? Work on the positive self-talk. You need to fight the negatives as they will hound you especially when you feel low. Remind yourself that hope is always there…even if she feels temporarily lost at times.
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
