Feeling Down? 3 Must Do’s When Life Gets too Turbulent…

Tell me, have you heard this one?

A rabbi walks into a synagogue and says…

“Life is filled with peaks and valleys. Enjoy the peaks, because you know
there are going to be valleys.”

I bet you were thinking I was setting you up for a joke, but the truth is, what the rabbi said during that sermon I heard many years ago is quite serious.

Life isn’t good all of the time.

We do encounter bumps in the road, times when either something bad happens to us or when, for whatever reason, we’re just not feeling our best.

You probably agree that navigating the high’s is pretty easy.

But navigating the low’s?

A bit more challenging…

And I’m not here to tell you that I have the exact solution, especially when you’re hit with a monster adversity like cancer or something of that nature.

But here are just a few things I’ve learned from my own experiences on how to handle the inevitable valleys in life…

3 Must Do’s for When Life Gets too Turbulent…

Maybe you’ve hit a rough patch and you find yourself feeling out of sorts for a little while.

Try keeping these three things in mind…

1 | Give yourself permission to not be OK.

In a society in which we’re encouraged to believe that “attitude is everything” and even more so, that having a positive attitude can make or break our ability to get what we want in life, sometimes it’s important to remember…

It’s OK to not be OK.

Sometimes you need to give yourself permission to, well, feel like crap for a little while. To not have to “keep your chin up”, to not have to cheer up. 

When we “should” ourselves into feeling better (i.e., I should feel happier right now or I should be more grateful right now), it often adds more stress to the situation.

Sadness has just as much validity as the emotion, happiness, and it’s important to allow yourself to own your feelings, to recognize that it’s OK to feel how you feel.

Just remember, while you’re feeling this way, to show yourself as much kindness and understanding as you show to others.

2 | Don’t panic…

There’s no way around it. Feeling down is an uncomfortable feeling. It’s one we want to get rid of as quickly as possible.

And, if we can’t, we can naturally start to panic. We can start to not only feel pained over the thing we’re feeling down about, but we can also start thinking there’s something wrong with us for feeling down.

“Why can’t I snap out of it?”, one may start thinking.

For most of us (and for most situations), this feeling won’t last forever. Know and have faith that you will come out on the other side. (Remind yourself that you have before and you will now…)

(Important caveat: If you can’t snap out of it after an overly extended period of time, please don’t be afraid (or feel ashamed) to get professional help…)

3 | Remember, out of the valleys often comes you, only better.

While it’s possible to grow during the good times, I’ve always believed that we grow the most during the hard ones.

These valleys are often overflowing with lessons if you’re open to them. In fact, if you come out of the valley without the lesson, you’ll most likely face that adversity again and again until you learn it! 〈〈 Tweet this!

When we enter a valley, we can see it as a place of stagnation or as a trigger for reinvention.

If you’re willing to learn (which often requires the courage to look within), most often, you come out of the valley stronger, more empathetic and as you, only better.

:: ::

There was a great movie released by Pixar in 2015 called Inside Out that highlighted how each of our different emotions — Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness — has a purpose in our lives.

These valleys, in which our more negative emotions rear their heads, are not fun, but they also have a purpose.

And it’s up to you to find that purpose.

I know you’re up to the challenge.

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To navigating the valleys,

 

 

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