Has life got you down right now? Does it seem like every time you turn around there’s some new problem you have to resolve? Unfortunately, you’re not alone. Setbacks, hard times, and shortcomings are part of life and will happen to everyone on some level. Feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, defeat starts to set in as you feel there’s nowhere left to turn. Though giving up and being consumed by your circumstances seems like the only resolve, the truth is, you can bounce back.
As unfair as it may seem at the moment, it is often during those difficult times that people find out how truly strong they are. You’ve likely even heard it said that without failures there can be no real success. During those down times in your life is when you learn resilience, strength, and determination. It is pushing through rough circumstances that make you a better person equipped to appreciate the successes to follow. No matter what you’re going through right now, here is some advice to pick yourself up and rebuild.
Ask For Help
It’s unfortunate that some people think that asking for help is a sign of weakness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Realizing your weaknesses and knowing where to turn for help is actually a great sign of strength. Not everything in your life was meant to be handled on your own and there are people out there ready to help. If you were struggling with substance abuse, for instance, an inpatient or outpatient rehab facility is one of the best places to go for help. If you ’ve recently gone through a divorce, a therapist might be best equipped to help you deal with the emotions of it all.
Build a Strong Support System
Though time alone may be needed on occasion, when you’re going through rough times you don’t want to isolate yourself from people who can actually be there for you. Try to build a strong support system to lean on for advice, emotional support, spiritual guidance, and whatever else you may need right now. This includes your family, friends, spouse, and your church or religious group. If you don’t have much of a foundation for support there are tons of support groups both online and in local communities for just about any circumstance you’re going through. Start attending meetings and building a circle of support from there.
Set Goals
It goes without saying that not everything in life is controllable or even preventable, but it’s time to take the reigns of what you can maintain. Start creating goals to rebuild your life. Goals give you purpose while also keeping you aligned with creating a better future.
Start by breaking your life up into categories (health, finances, relationship, spiritual, etc.). Then, underneath each category, write what you’d like to have happened. For example, in the health category, you may want to get your weight under control. In finance, you might want to boost your credit score. These will serve as your “big picture goals”. Then, take each goal and break it down into smaller, actionable, steps. To manage weight you’d need to eat better, exercise regularly, and reduce stress. To boost your credit score you’d need to pay down debts, and maintain current accounts. Once you’ve broken your goals down into small steps, begin tackling them one by one.
Bouncing back after hard times won’t be easy. It will take self-discipline and every bit of effort you have. There may be some bumps along the way, even setbacks within setbacks, but as long as you get help, surround yourself with great support, set and stick to your goals, you will come out better on the other side.