How to stay strong while dealing with crises
How to stay strong while deal with crises?
Life is the name of trials and tribulations. No matter how much you earn, who you are or how rock solid your personality is, crises are inevitable. At one point or another, you will have to deal with trials and tribulations, and one can overcome that all on his own by perseverance. For example, your loved one might be suffering from a terminal illness, your marriage might be coming to an end, or you may find yourself in a dire financial situation. Whether dealing with workplace stress, health issues or life’s inevitable challenges, you have to keep yourself strong enough to make it challenging for these trials to harm you.
Some people fear taking action because of the required struggle for overcoming difficult times, while others grow impulsive and take action without thinking about the best solutions. All that matters is staying strong while dealing with crises and the way you respond to these crises.
Mentally strong people stay strong when the world around them is crumbling. They manage their behaviours, thoughts and emotions in appropriate ways to get through tough times without deteriorating their personality. As a result, they emerge from the hardships even better than before and feel happier, hopeful and healthier going through these tribulations.
Following are the key points for keeping oneself strong in times of crisis:
- Accepting reality
Facing the bad news, you can easily get grabbed in the phase of denial, and it’s easy to waste time overthinking and questioning things like “why this is happening to me”. But this is not the time to destroy the vital resources worrying about unfairness.
One should accept the situation. It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with all that’s going on; instead, you should be willing to acknowledge factuality, and only then you can take a good step.
- Acknowledging your inner strength
Building your mental strength in the midst of a tough time is the same as lifting weights right before picking up a heavy box. In this critical time, all one should be concerned about is the application of already present strength into action.
Pessimist thinking like “I will never get through this” diminishes your ability overall. Fortunately, mentally strong people do not believe in negative thoughts; instead, they remind themselves about the direct impact of positive thinking and enthusiastically keep themselves firm in bad situations. They handle everything maturely, whatever life throws in their way.
- Seeking support
Talking to your friend and getting help in times of crisis is a good approach to save yourself from depression. Mentally strong people are aware that asking for help is not something to be afraid of; instead, getting emotional catharsis from even a professional counsellor is a refined approach that is fruitful in making a person capable of surviving a hard time. Know that you do not have to do everything on your own; instead, good people are ready to help you through tough times, but yes, choose them wisely as you should not trust them randomly.
- Practicing self-care:
It is mandatory to take care of yourself very well in crises. For example, manage to go out for a walk, make healthy eating choices, and rest your mind and body for a while to stabilize your physical and mental state to cope with this challenging environment or condition.
- Remaining psychologically agile
The “Right thinking” can make the experience worst for you. So practice agile psychological techniques, keep your thinking elastic, don’t stuff it up. Tell yourself that anything can happen, and it is the demand and law of nature, so you build enough stamina and room in yourself to grasp all realistically.
Mentally strong people have flexible personalities; they do not keep themselves rigid. On the contrary, they keep themselves open to changing their emotional, cognitive and behavioural patterns to adapt to the new challenges they have to endure.
- Taking care of yourself
Mentally strong people are well aware that self-care is a priority during the toughest times because the struggle for coping with the distress demands a healthy mind and body. Eating healthy, exercising and getting plenty of rest are necessary so that you can be at your best while tackling challenges.
- Making the tough decision:
Crises sometimes require you to take tough decisions. And when you are feeling emotional and overwhelmed, these tough decisions may seem impossible, especially when you have to take a step faster.
Whether you are concerned with which medical procedure you have to try or need to find some other place to live, ask yourself what advice you would give to a trusted friend. It takes much emotion out of the equation, which can be the key to choosing the best possible solution (even when you feel like you are between a rock and a hard place).
- Focusing on what you can control
Mentally strong people do not waste time reusing conversations from hurtful experiences, wishing things to be different, or worrying about catastrophic outcomes. They know such things will only drain the mental strength needed to solve problems. So instead, they put their resources into only things they have control over, even if that only thing is their attitude.
- Creating a helpful mantra
Develop an affirmation, like “I’ve survived tough times before I will get through this too,” and repeat it to yourself as needed. It can help drown out the negative thoughts that are bound to swirl in your mind, and it can keep you on track so you can move forward.
Developing an affirmation like “I will survive through these tough times” and repeating it to yourself will help you drown out the negative thoughts that may otherwise try to swirl your mind. Keeping yourself on track in a difficult time is the ultimate key to overcome dark times.
- Prioritizing what needs to get done
You need to shift attention toward the solution of problems that are required to be addressed, rather than getting upset and depressed in calamities.
Sometimes, in times of difficulty, one has to give a few things up to focus his energy on the task at hand. Creating a to-do list that helps prioritize more important stuff can help you get through this time. Also, writing things down is a good idea as the stress level otherwise can make your memory fail sometimes.
- Taking action
Avoiding problems and hosting pity parties are not going to help you in any way. Closing eyes toward difficulty is not the strategy of mentally strong people; instead, they prefer taking productive actions and tackling challenges head-on. If they face some persistent problem like in the case of a loved one’s illness, they sort out the healthy ways to cope up with that in a better way, instead of getting devastated.
- Looking for new opportunities
Whether it’s related to a health scare or a job loss, mentally strong people are aware of the fact that this critical time requires them to divert their focus onto the path of survival as they acknowledge that these challenging experiences are the opportunities to get something positive out of it in the long run.
- Experiencing your emotions :
Though it is not acceptable to suppress one’s emotions for long, there are also times demanding regulation of your feelings within the circle of control, so you won’t have to deal with panic attacks. For example, crying in the doctor’s office can get in the way of questioning sessions, which ultimately will affect identifying the problem from the root. In the same way, allowing the fear to take hold of you will prevent you from taking action.
In acute crises, make sure to set aside the time to let yourself experience the painful feelings later, as it is a crucial part in healing emotional wounds.
- Taking small steps
Crises can damage your strength if you put the whole of your effort in bulk. Make sure to follow small steps toward salvation, as the rough path of difficulties can otherwise eat up all of your energy in haste. You will feel overwhelmed if you will try to accomplish or solve something abruptly. Instead, break down the significant steps into smaller ones.
- Doing stuff to keep a sense of normalcy
When a person is in the middle of a crisis, he might feel like the whole world is upside down. Perhaps you spend every day sitting in the hospital at your loved one’s side, or maybe you are applying for jobs for a long time. Doing something that can help you feel normal will surely help you stay mentally stronger in this kind of situation. For example, going for a walk in the morning (like you always did before crises) will help you keep yourself collected. Whatever it is, looking for the shred of normalcy that you may continue (when you are feeling lost in the chaos.) acts as a harbour
- Building strength after the crisis is over
Once the hard time is over, taking time to unwind from the weight of stress is essential. Whether that means scheduling an appointment with a therapist or planning a hike in the mountains, take whatever steps to enlighten you and help you grow out from experience.
- Practising gratitude
Practising gratitude during a tough time is maturity. It doesn’t mean that you have to ignore the pain; instead, you should handle the wounds with the concept of learning the optimized strategies for managing those wounds. Practising gratitude helps you to accept those challenges with a sense of transformation into your well-refined version. The blaming attitude is not going to help you in any way; instead, it is going to add up in your stress level.
- Reflecting on what you have learnt
Getting the perspective and idea of what you have learned from endured pain will help you realize the development in your mindset and personality. This pain eventually teaches you to grow and heal yourself with robustness.