Staying Positive When Everything Is Going Wrong

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There are some days that are just going to be a nightmare. Sometimes those days might be similar to the fictional story of Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day (where a crocodile somehow ends up in his house among other embarrassing and inconvenient surprises). Or it might be more serious like you lose a family member or find out your husband no longer has a job.

 

Being positive through trials doesn’t mean that you have to pretend like you love your current situation. It means maintaining hope that a better day will come and that your suffering (no matter how intense) isn’t for nothing.

 

 

 

RULE OF 10’s

 

When things start to go south, don’t let yourself get sucked into the thinking that your life is over and things will never get better. If you didn’t just get a terminal diagnosis, then most likely, it will. If you did get a terminal diagnosis, there are still great ways to cope, but the best thing I can think of for you is to cash out all of your savings and go vacation or give it away to random people in $100 increments. But don’t call me an expert.

 

Otherwise, focus on the rule of 10’s, which is something my mom taught me because she is a genius.

 

• Will this matter in 10 seconds? (probably)
• Will this matter in 10 minutes?
• Will this matter in 10 hours?
• Will this matter in 10 days? (maybe)
• Will this matter in 10 months? (probably not)
• Will this matter in 10 years? (I am leaning hard towards ‘no’)

 

 

VOLUNTEER

 

One of the best ways for me to cope with tough times is to refocus off of myself and onto other people. Not in a way like “wow it makes me feel so much better that others are suffering more than I am” but in a way that might make you realize that you aren’t the only one that gets dealt a had hand every once in a while.

 

It can be very comforting to see other people who are also dealing with tough situations and taking note of how they handle it. You can learn a lot from others as they go through suffering.

 

 

PRAY

 

If you can’t fathom why you are having a bad day, week or month, pray about it. In my experience, God has a history of using trials to strengthen people for his future plans. Which is actually quite an honor when you think about it. And if you can’t imagine that being the case, pray about it.

 

Your prayers should ask God to reveal to you why these things are happening to you. He may not answer right away, but it is worth a shot.

 

Pray also that He would deliver you from these trials that you are going to. Again, He may not answer right away, you may get more peace while you are still in the midst of it.

 

 

 

 

We are absolutely promised that we are going to have Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days. And I hope most of them are the kind where it is just crazy stuff like a crocodile in your house (although that does seem quite frightening). But sometimes it is going to be earth-shattering, leave you with a pit in your stomach kind of stuff.

 

Remind yourself of these tips and know that you will make it!