You might have heard the saying “Into every life a little rain must fall.”
But sometimes life hits us with a Class 5 hurricane. It happens to everyone – children, adolescents, and adults alike.
You can feel overwhelmed, powerless, and unable to see a way forward.
You might experience heightened levels of anxiety, depression, or hopelessness.
As hard as these life-storms can be, there are strategies you can use to make weathering them a bit easier. They won’t make the storm go away immediately.
But they can lessen the intensity and overwhelm you’re feeling.
And they can help you see that no matter how dark and intense the storm is, daylight will return.
Cama’i CHC Offers Mental Health Treatment & Counseling in Naknek, King Salmon, and South Naknek. Click Here to make an appointment.
9 Strategies for Weathering Life’s Storms
1. Remember Your Wins
Our brains give more weight to negative things than positive ones. If a person receives 100 compliments, and 1 negative comment, they’ll focus almost exclusively on the negative one.
It’s one way our brain has evolved to protect us. By putting stronger emphasis on the negative, we get strong reminders of what not to do. “Don’t touch a hot stove or you’ll get burned!” “Don’t eat that particular food or you’ll feel bad!”
Unfortunately, in tough times, that mechanism works against us. It makes us lose sight of anything positive.
It takes intentional effort to remind ourselves of the times we’ve triumphed in the past. Of the times we turned a negative experience into something positive.
We’ve all come through difficult times before, and weathered situations we thought we we’d never get through.
Take a moment to remember a time when you overcame a difficult situation. Or — when a hardship made you stronger, more resourceful, and more resilient.
Remembering even small wins can help. Anything that reminds our brains that not everything is negative. And that negative things often end with positive outcomes.
2. See Obstacles as Opportunities
Setbacks and challenges can feel devastating.
But they also offer opportunities for growth. The chance to learn something new. The chance to see an obstacle from a different perspective. To learn new ways around them.
Try imagining the ways you’ll be stronger and wiser once you’ve weathered this storm. Will you feel more resilient? Will you have better relationships with those who helped you? Will you feel more self-worth? Will you have a greater appreciation for life without these challenges?
Finding your own silver lining in the storm clouds can help you deal with them better.
3. Recognize Small Steps
When things are tough, everything feels more difficult. Simple everyday tasks can feel draining like they take a tremendous amount of energy.
That’s because they do. You’re not imagining it. Stress can take a heavy toll on our energy levels.
Recognize and appreciate even the smallest steps you take forward. Did you put away those dishes even when you didn’t feel like it? Did you eat something healthy even though you wanted something sugary? Did you go for a short walk even though you felt like staying in bed?
Acknowledge what you overcame, and congratulate yourself!
Those might seem like small things. But you did them even when it would’ve been easier to do nothing.
4. Build Self-Compassion
When going through tough times, we can be tough on ourselves — very tough. Blaming ourselves judging what we did or didn’t do.
Imagine what you would say to a friend going through similar circumstances. How would you comfort them and support them? How would you encourage them?
When dealing with major challenges, try being kinder and gentler to yourself. It takes practice, but treating yourself with compassion can help ease the intensity of the storm.
5. Make Time for Self-Care
When we feel overwhelmed, we often forget to take care of ourselves at even the most basic levels.
Make time and space for exercise, proper nutrition, proper rest, and stress management. Find some space to enjoy a favorite hobby, watch a favorite show, engage with your community, connect with friends or family members, and treat yourself to a favorite meal.
Taking care of yourself means you’ll be better equipped to deal with the challenges you’re facing, and more capable of taking steps towards a solution.
6. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a collection of techniques to help you become more grounded and present. And it helps slow runaway, ruminating thoughts.
You might try focusing on physical sensations like your breath moving in and out. Noticing the sounds you can hear in your environment. Noticing where there’s tension in your body.
Or you could try observing your thought patterns. What are the most prevalent thoughts you’re having right now? The key to this is observing without judging them, trying to change or “fix” them. Just notice the thoughts as they occur with curiosity as if you were an outside observer. When new thoughts occur, let the current one go and notice the new ones.
There are a number of smartphone apps for mindfulness available. “Calm” and “Headspace” are two of the most popular apps. Most of them have free introductory programs, so you can try them out before investing in a subscription.
7. Find places for Gratitude
it might not seem like it, but here are still things we can be grateful for, even in the midst of a life storm. you might be grateful for having a warm place to sleep. Or that your family is in good physical health. Or that you got to wear your favorite shirt today.
They don’t have to be big. We often overlook little things that we take for granted, especially when we’re feeling overwhelmed with challenges.
Noticing these things, and remembering them, can help our brains see that not everything is bad even if it feels that way.
8. Take Action
Every step forward counts, no matter how small. As we mentioned before, steps that normally seem easy can take much more effort during difficult times.
Try to identify simple steps you can take toward addressing your current challenges. Is there a book or article you could read to gain new insight? A new skill you could start practicing? Is there someone you could call or email who might have some insight to share?
Trying to tackle everything at once can be intimidating and stop you before you begin. So don’t try to solve everything with one action. Difficult issues take many steps and tactics. Look for a small, tiny action that feels doable, and start doing that as soon as you can.
Don’t forget to acknowledge the actions you take, and congratulate yourself for moving forward even though it was difficult.
Making progress, even in tiny ways, can help you see a way through the storm.
9. Take Advantage of Behavioral Health Services
You don’t have to face the storm alone. Resilience doesn’t mean trying to handle everything by yourself.
Reaching out for assistance is one of the best things you can do for yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Cama’i offers a number of behavioral health services to help you weather difficult times. We provide mental health screenings, counseling, talk therapy, emergency care, and psychiatric referrals when medications might be needed.
If you could use some help, the dedicated team at Cama’i CHC is here for you.
Are you or your loved ones going through a tough time? Contact Cama’i Community Health Center today to speak with a behavioral health expert.
