8 Things To Remember When You Feel Like Everything Is Against You
Don't let life suck the happiness out of you. Here's how.
iStock You've had a really down right awful week. Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. Just like the saying goes, "When it rains it pours." That's how last week felt for me. My washer broke, my car got towed, my shower stopped draining water, I wasn't getting my paychecks, my roommate and I got stuck driving in the snow and everyone just passed by without any sign of acknowledgement, and that's only the start of it.
I know I'm not the only one who has these weeks, because that's life. As much as it sucked (I almost felt like I was literally just waiting for the next thing to go wrong) it taught me a lot. Here's what to remember when everything seems like it's going wrong.
1. Notice who's there for you when things get tough.
Like I said, my car got towed. My day usually starts around 6 AM and who wants to drive someone to work at that time? Apparently, most of my friends. I told them my car got towed and I was actually shocked by how many of them told me I could take their cars or they could drive me where I need to go.
Even the old man that lives down the street told me I could knock on his door and he could bring me anywhere if I needed because he saw it happen. These people are special and I appreciate them, so next time one of your friends is in a rough patch, help them! Because you never know when you might need the favor returned.
2. It's never as bad as it seems.
Of everything that happened to me, nothing was unfixable. I still have my health, a roof over my head and food in my stomach; I am great. When life starts throwing negative thing after negative thing at you, you need to remember to keep a positive mindset. Even if it's "everything sucks but I'm still happy." Be happy to be alive, you need to experience the lows sometimes to remember how lucky you are on a normal basis.
3. People won't feel sorry for you.
You can throw yourself a pity party, but don't expect others to join in. Everyone might tell you what you're going through sucks, but no one else is experiencing it first hand besides you. Everyone else has their own problems they are going through and they don't have the time or energy to waste sympathizing your life.
4. Life goes on.
It's only temporary; everything in life is only temporary. It's just a bad day or a bad week, but it's not a bad life. I am extremely grateful for everything I have and I will willingly admit that I am pretty dang lucky. Despite the bad that might be going on, it doesn't mean you should doubt things. Things will turn around and you will be OK.
5. Keep a positive mindset.
I can't stress this enough. Negativity breeds negativity. You know those people who always blame everyone else for their own misery? Or the people who think life owes them something? It's because they can't get past the negative mindset. Once you lose a strong positive mindset, you let the toxic, negative one take over that will never result in happiness.
6. Appreciate every little good thing to come out of the awful experiences.
You didn't burn your toast? AWESOME! You slept through the whole night? That's great! If you don't take a minute to appreciate the good things that are happening — even if it's just the little mundane things you never think about — you'll miss out on a lot of gratitude. If all you have in mind is all the bad things, that is all you'll notice, so make sure you appreciate the little things.
7. Be kind to everyone.
This week might be tough on you, but that doesn't mean it's only tough on you. There are more people than just you who are having a bad day or a bad week, so be kind to everyone. You never know what they are going through.
And especially after going through your own week of personal hell you would hope everyone would be nice to you, right? So be kind to others. After all, it's no ones fault my washer broke, so there's no point in me taking it out on others.
8. Remember to laugh.
It actually helps. Instead of being upset over things going wrong, just laugh it off. Grab a glass of wine and laugh about it. Sure, it sucks now, but you'll make it through it and everything will go back to normal. Redirect the anger you're feeling; I promise it will help you get through it more.
