This year has been one of the most challenging years of my life. Of course, everything is relative and there are many people who faced much worse challenges than I did.
As I struggled through some situations, I jotted down a number of reminders to help me have the best possible mindset to tackle what was in front of me. Here are some of them:
- Rarely do things turn out as badly as I fear they will. (Of course, this year, many things in the world were worse than feared, but for many of the situations I found myself in, things didn’t turn out as badly as I feared they would, as usual.)
- Action alleviates anxiety. (I made a note to think of this every morning, a reminder to act rather than to spend too much time lost in my thoughts and concerns.)
- This, too, shall pass.
- A friend of mine said the following about what to do when I am thinking of things in the middle of the night: Think about a timeline of your life from day one into the future. Imagine being beyond the event, and it went well.
- He also suggested this: Think of a hard situation from 5-10 years ago that ended up well, or made you a better person. Then, write down your current dilemma as if we were in the future and you had gotten through it successfully.
- The Serenity Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
- These are not the biggest challenges I have faced. Embrace them and get through them, as I have in the past.
- Another friend told me he had once thought he he had lost his son to suicide. Years later, his son is thriving, and that inspires my friend to reminds himself frequently: Never give up, miracles happen every day.
- Another friend said: It’s just a blip. When you look back, it will be one small moment of your life
- Don’t sweat the small stuff – and it’s almost all small stuff.
Not all of these will work for you, and I am not suggesting you use all of them. Try one. Or two. And don’t forget to be grateful for what you DO have. It will help you put things into perspective.
Be well,
David