Unpleasant situations make an appearance from time to time.

When faced with challenges, we often tend to react instead of respond. These actions do more to harm rather than improve a situation. As we react, we harm not only the person we’re interacting with, but more so, ourselves. However there is a way in which we can ease tense situations, if not change them entirely.

Looking inward at what went wrong in a situation will help avoid impulsive actions.

Sometimes we simply need to let go of things that are beyond our control. This may seem tough initially, but as soon as one decides to let go, being happy becomes easier. This is a practice that we need to make part of our routine. When we let go of things and look back at them, we realize that we had been frowning over the most trivial thing that didn’t even matter.

Another thing that worsens situations is making comparisons.

Everybody has had a different journey. Superficially, it may seem that someone has had a rosy life and that they’ve had it easy, but it might not be the case. Also, having it easy isn’t really a privilege. It has been observed that many “privileged” folk become unfit to resist shocks and aren’t strong enough to deal with situations.

Those who are suffering right now are actually the privileged lot. The more challenges one faces, the better one gets at dealing with situations. Tough people are those who quit circling around the shallow issues of life, look beyond and focus on things that really matter.

So we should be grateful for the gift of a challenging life.

And as it’s said, “life was never meant to be easy.” Several species have gone extinct in their struggle to survive here. Humans came much later; survived, adapted and evolved. Every time we feel down and defeated we should remember that we’ve come a long way.

Man is not here to drown forever in despair, man is here to live.

Wallowing in negative thoughts is another trap that many people fall into. The negative thought isn’t really the problem…the real problem is in one’s inability to battle a negative thought. One of the easiest ways to stop a negative thought is to accept it. If your mind whispers, “What if I get diagnosed with cancer?” or, “What if I am to die a painful death?” simply accept it. Once such a thought has been accepted it has been nipped in the bud.

While sulking, pointing fingers and drowning in self-pity may seem like an easier reaction to challenges, they will do long term damage to one’s mental and physical state. We need to see the good in every situation.

What was the silver lining to your day? If you have even one reason to smile, your life is worth living. If not, then think a little harder.

 

 

Relephant Read:

How to Move from Comparison to Self-Acceptance.

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Author: Neha Pinto

Editor: Travis May

Image: Author’s Own