Advice: Optimism in the Face of Hardship

As humans, it is perfectly natural for our default response towards hardships to be negative. Why is this happening to me? The world is out to get me!! I can’t believe out of eight billion people, I’ve got this luck, ugh! Trust me, these thoughts have definitely surfaced in my vocabulary. Whether people are saying it out loud or internally, everyone feels this way! You are NOT alone in this struggle. Nothing in life is guaranteed. You could be having the best day of your life today and receive the worst news tomorrow, or it could be the other way around. Life is too short for us to waste it away being pessimistic about everything. However, this concept is much harder said than acquired. I, oftentimes, forget about this and fall back into my old habits of pessimism, but with the reminder from the following five strategies (listed below), I can demonstrate resilience and kick pessimism in the face!

L e g e n d :

Strategy #1: Go Outside

Strategy #2: Focus on the Controllable Things

Strategy #3: Reframe Your Negative Thoughts

Strategy #4: Practice Gratitude

Strategy #5: Give Yourself Grace

Go Outside

Go outside and take a breath of fresh air. I find that when I begin to feel overwhelmed, panic will arise within me. The only way for me to overcome this is by dissociating. By stepping outside and giving myself a break, it gives my mind time to reset and restore. This is so vital when it comes to ensuring healthy coping mechanisms. We often like to suppress our emotions and call it a day, but we shouldn’t. By giving ourselves a much needed break, we can come back to reality with a newfound determination towards our hardships. As a result, there will less likely be a chance of falling into long-term depressive episodes. Going outside also shows us the beauty this world has to offer. When we see how all of nature blends perfectly together, creating a wonderful rhythm and way of life for us, pessimism is just a bit silly, isn’t it?

Focus on the Controllable Things

Focus on the things within your control. There is no use worrying about things that are out of your control.  When something really bad happens, we always have this yearning of “going back in time and changing the outcome.” This mindset can completely destroy a person. It’s unrealistic to base the bane of your existence around the things that you can’t change or have authority over. Instead, place your focus on what you can do in the face of this situation. How can you shift your attitude or your actions in a way that can benefit you? When I came to know this life-changing perspective, I found that the way I approached life changed as well. I no longer felt weighed down by regret, but was given a new sense of gratitude. We can’t change the past, that much is for sure, but what we can change is the future. The way our future plays out is entirely up to us. This is the true beauty of living!

Reframe Your Negative Thoughts

Overthinking might just be everyone’s worst enemy. When we get overstimulated, that little voice in our head loves to take advantage of the situation and fill us with negative thoughts, resulting in pessimisms' arrival. We can’t let that voice win. No, we have the choice to reframe these negative thoughts into something that can lead to positive outcomes. Instead of thinking: “This is impossible,” you can restructure that sentence to: “This is difficult, but I will find a way through it.” It’s true! No matter how difficult life gets or how many struggles come your way, you will get through it and find the light at the end of the tunnel. I refuse to believe that life is just a process filled with constant negativity. Absolutely not! Negativity is a mindset, and the good thing about mindsets is that they can change. By reframing our negative thoughts, we allow ourselves and our mental well being to flourish! 

Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is such a powerful weapon to keep by your side when things get tough. No matter how hard life can get, gratitude is something that will always act as your safety blanket when you fall. I love the practice of gratitude because there is always something to be thankful for. Whether it be your family, job, friends, talents, or just a simple compliment you received on one of your many errand runs this morning, gratitude surrounds us all. I suggest keeping a gratitude journal! I like to write one thing I am thankful for every night in it and wake up to it sitting on my bedside table. That way, the first thing I see in the morning will serve as a reminder of the importance that comes with being optimistic. No matter how rough that last night might have been, something still went well and that is something to celebrate in itself. This practice helped me shift my focus from the things in my life that have been going wrong to what has been going right!

Give Yourself Grace

Be kind to yourself. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad and react pessimistically to struggles! It’s okay to have emotions and feel frustrated, sad, fearful, and all the other feelings that make us human. Do not ever try to suppress your true feelings because they will creep up on you sooner or later. Deal with your problems, don’t run away from them. Be okay with what you are feeling towards a hardship that you’re experiencing in your life because it’s all part of the process to help you grow in your resilience and ability to face these losses. Be content with your ability to feel so deeply and thoroughly. Many people think that the differentiating factors between ourselves and the other eight billion people around us are our features, but I’d like to argue that it’s actually our emotions. They determine how we make our every decision. Whether it be how we approach life, act, or even dress, our emotions are at the core of these choices. All emotions, yes, even those negative ones, are supposed to be embraced. The one thing we have to make sure to know is that one singular emotion isn’t meant to last forever. We can’t let these negative emotions define our overall mindset.

Thank you so so so much for reading! I’m so incredibly grateful you’re here and I hope that these pieces of advice will help you just like they helped me! Don’t hesitate to reach out to me through my email (@everythingnanything321@gmail.com) or social media platforms on TikTok and Instagram (@everyth1ngnanyth1ng). I’m just a message away 😉! Before I end off, I want to leave you with a Bible verse from Jeremiah 29:11 in which Jeremiah’s scribe wrote, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." God knows you, sees you, hears you, and He wants the best for you. Let Him steer your life so that you may live in optimism!

Please don’t forget that:

• I am insanely proud of you.

• Your feelings are valid.

• You are so loved.

Have an amazing day or night wherever you are! See you soon!

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