Life may not seem fair it may not feel like a bed of roses especially when things don’t go the way you want them to. But is life good or is it bad?
The answer depends on you. If you see life as bad, it will be so. Life is what you make of it. Life isn’t easy for sure but that does not mean it is bad. We are often faced with horribly tough situations such as the loss of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or a health issue or maybe even the loss of a home. These Covid times can bring out the worst and be quite a challenge as they also have the potential of bringing a great deal of grief. At these times the easiest thing to do is to blame people or situations for the misery. Interestingly the harder option is the right one, and that is to take responsibility of the catastrophe, gather strength and move on. Our response to a situation is what enables us to win over it or makes us succumb. Here are 5 ways to help you handle what life throws at you.

1) Cultivate the habit of acceptance: The common feelings after an unpleasant happening are shock, denial & pain and guilt. The first step of dealing with any situation that is unpleasant but unavoidable is to accept it for what it is. The sooner the acceptance the faster will you empower yourself to handle the situation. Accepting of a situation is looking at it without judgment, and that is the best frame of mind from which to take action.

2) Focus on what life offers to teach you: There is something to learn from everything that happens to us. If there is someone who repeatedly annoys you, you can probably say that it is happening to you so that you build on your patience. Focusing on the lesson to be learnt from a situation will help you feel empowered to embrace it.

3) Seek help when necessary: Seeking help is not a sign of weakness but one of strength. Ask for help from whoever you’d feel comfortable with. It could be your best friend or a family member or a life coach. You will be able to find solutions to any challenge with help from others.

4) Do not live with expectations: If you live life with unreasonable expectations you could end up hurting yourself. If you have strong beliefs like ‘hard work pays off’ or ‘kindness must be reciprocated’ and if it so happens that any of these do not work out as expected, you will feel betrayed and disappointed. The universe has its own purpose for things which are often beyond our understanding and are best accepted without preconditions.

5) Practice gratitude: Focus on the things that have been working out for you. They don’t always have to be big things or events or successes. If your love life is in turmoil, but your career is great and you enjoy good health be thankful for your career and good health. Gratitude for things in life will change your entire perspective of life.

You may not always get what you want, but remember you can work towards being who you want to be no matter what life throws your way.