Coping with life

Some say life is short. However, tested people may have a different take on it. Because when you’re down in the dumps, life flounders along with no end in sight to its pressing problems. So, how do we cope and ensure the survival of our spirits and innocence throughout such difficulties?

Happily, where there’s a will there’s a way. I know this because I’ve personally picked up a few of the tricks to getting to the sweetness in the midst of life’s hard and sometimes bitter outer casing. I’d like to share some of these tricks with you. With prudent application of these techniques, you can weather the cloudy days. As always, as a disclaimer I should point out that nothing suggested here is intended to replace professional advice. Actually, the formulas given work best in tandem with all the help you can get if necessary. So, let’s get started.

The first strategy cost nothing, pays handsomely and is very simple. Every diligent housewife appreciates the significance of this behavior: cleaning up. Dusting, mopping, sweeping, scrubbing, polishing, putting the house in order in general is an exercise that always ends with a sense of accomplishment. Furthermore, feeling accomplished improves self-esteem which itself fosters a durability that makes coping with life more intuitive. If nothing else, cleaning up demonstrates that a person can bring order out of a chaotic environment whether physical or mental. After I clean up and get my living space in order, I feel more than ready for anything that may come my way. Cleaning house settles, strengthens, and rewards the mind and body. It also creates a run-off effect which positions you to do more with your time and energy throughout the day. In a way it creates more time and leisure out of thin air. It is a tried-and- true strategy for coping with life’s challenges, indirectly but effectively addressing challenges to self confidence that may come along with personal problems. I’m not going to lose my voice trying to convince you of its efficacy. Proof is in the pudding. Make cleaning house a regular activity. You’ll see for yourself how it works its wonders. At the very least it’ll keep you from living in a pig pen.

Let’s move on. Another way to foster spiritual strength during a rough patch is to appreciate the humor in what goes on in your life and in the world at large. Writers and performance artists tell us that the best comedy is tragedy. Taken another way, this means the tragedy in the world brings with it a shade of comedy if we’re willing to look at our circumstances and ourselves from the point of view of an outsider. Take me for example. I was homeless, hungry, penniless, plagued by mental health challenges and at odds with my entire family. I thought it was me against the world. I believed the people most important to me didn’t understand me and probably never would. Then wandering along one snowy day when things couldn’t get any worse, I slipped on some ice and landed flat on my ass on a street crowded with shoppers. I had to laugh at myself. What else could I do? It occurred to me then that the god who I didn’t think existed was out to get me (which proved the god’s existence), or things couldn’t get any worse which meant things were about to get better. This allowed me to decompress. I seriously considered the possibility of a power beyond myself guiding my life which made me look for clues to that effect. Subsequently, the more I interpreted my situations as building blocks toward a greater good, the more wisdom I was able to apply to my actions and reactions. As a direct result the stronger became the proofs for a conviction that life was operating like a big brother. It was just pushing me around a bit to make me tougher, but at the end of the day it loved me and would do anything for me. So, after a while, whenever something unfortunate or inopportune befell me, I would grin and laugh, take a deep breath and then have a closer look at the situation for clues as to the good that could come from it. And I usually found it. So, the search continues. Seek humor and you will have plenty to keep you laughing.

There is always something good about adversity. Even if it does not seem pleasant at the moment of its occurrence, you will find that months or even years later, that adversity was directly responsible for something about your present life that you would not be able to do without. But before I dispense with the argument for a sense of humor, here is an important warning: it is only good to laugh at ourselves. It is never good to laugh at others. Be helpful if you can but allow those people being tested the opportunity to experience such things that will enable them to laugh at themselves one day. Again: humor. It works. It helps us to decompress.

Lastly, how do you feel about gratitude? It is another way to cope with unpleasant happenings beyond our control. If you have not yet applied it to your outlook, try it on for size. Ask anybody with half a brain. It pays to take time to appreciate the little things in life as well as the bigger things. You can even keep a little jar around and every time you think of something in your life that you appreciate, write it on a slip of paper and drop it in your gratitude jar. Notice how quickly the jar fills up and the fact that you have a lot of things to be thankful for.

So. Cleaning house, being able to laugh at the irony in life, and appreciating the nice little things we habitually overlook. These are effective ways of kicking off the days and seasons of our lives. How can we be sure these strategies work? Easy. Just try going to the opposite extreme. Let your living quarters accumulate grime and junk. Frown and gripe about everything you can’t control. Fail to acknowledge anything good, steadfast and dependable about your experiences. Do these things religiously and watch how quickly you implode pal. But. Do the opposite; organize, joke/laugh, and contemplate the hidden aspects of your experiences that keep you in the race and you will hit upon a certain euphoria that can dramatically energize you and change your worldview and your life. And whenever bad times threaten to reappear, you’ll find the temperament to see your way through with minimal damage to your optimism and vitality.

If you ever need someone to talk to you can call the Mental health Hotline at 866-903-3787. Or if you feel like a danger to yourself call 988.