How to Cope When Life Does Things We Can't Control
Stuff happens in life. We neither see the difficulties coming, nor have control to stop them. The result, of course, is more anxiety and stress than we know. Here are approaches that can help us move through what life throws us.
• Throw our inner victim a life jacket. When life becomes messy, it often feels easier to just throw up our hands and assume we can't do anything. Being a victim often allows us to pretend we are fine and choose to feel sorry for ourselves. While we can't change what has happened, none of us are powerless. Consider finding a stress support group or calling a hotline. We all have the power to choose our next step in life.
• When we are under stress, the natural tendency is to "talk things through" with our friends and loved ones. Writing things down on paper can be an amazing way to make the facts clear and keep them straight. The process of moving thought to hand makes it harder for us to lie to ourselves. The more we get to the truth of our situation, the more we can source ways to deal with it. We might also benefit from writing down our ideas for managing our situation.
• Switch up our perspective (视角). It rarely is. Instead, it's a perspective. Imagine life is a statue, and that a circle of people surrounds the statue, how many more angles are there to see things from than the one you are standing at? Sometimes a new perspective can put us into a better mindset.
A. Be honest — on paper.
B. It does work, but not always.
C. This is a form of victim mode.
D. And often, difficult stuff happens.
E. Therefore, life may throw us a curve ball.
F. Get support — from our friends and loved ones.
G. Many of us believe what we think is the whole truth.
