How To Live Through The Most Challenging Moments Of Your Life

By Alice Maddocks

Life can become exhausting and be so consuming at times that you end up feeling like there’s nothing left of you by the end of each day, we expect so much from ourselves and often don’t realize we’ve ‘overdone it’ until we’re already feeling the side effects. If this is where you’ve found yourself, I want you to know that this feeling isn’t going to last. I know it’s really tough and right now you probably can’t imagine that things are going to get easier, but they will.

You’re going to have better days, and you’re going to feel good again soon.

Be gentle with yourself.

Try to listen to what your body needs, if you need sleep then sleep and get as much rest as you can while you can. I know that sometimes this is easier said than done because when we go through particularly stressful times, we often find that it directly affects our ability to enjoy a restful sleep. It can be so frustrating when you’re exhausted, but you can’t sleep because your mind is racing, so if you want to sleep but your brain is buzzing with too many thoughts make a warm, comforting drink and sit somewhere different from your bedroom, someplace that feels nice for you. Take five minutes out and just focus on drinking that warm drink for those five minutes. Stare out the window and become distracted by the rest of the world. Take some deep breaths and try to become more aware of your surroundings by focussing your senses on smells, textures, lights, and sounds – these can be really useful in distracting our brains so that we shift into a different pattern of thought.

Be patient with yourself.

These things take time, you’re probably not going to wake up one morning and instantly feel back to your ‘old self’ again. So for now, try to limit the expectations you set on yourself each day so that they coincide with how you’re feeling. If everything feels as though it’s getting on top of you then just do the basics, you don’t need to put pressure on yourself to take on anything extra that’s going to add to your load right now. When you feel ready, you can add a little bit extra but add small tasks rather than something that has the potential to cause you unnecessary stress during this time. Focus on a few small manageable tasks and give yourself a pat on the back for completing them. If you had a physical injury right now you’d be resting up, and you’d allow your body the time it needed to heal, this is no different except you can’t see anything specific but you can feel it, and those feelings can be just as debilitating.

Feel what you feel.

If you wake up and you don’t feel good one day, that’s ok. You don’t have to have a reason for those feelings. I’ve heard people say before “I have no reason to feel like this” but the truth is you don’t need a reason to feel anything.Those feelings that are consuming just about every ounce of your existence right now are real. The best thing you can do is be steered by how you feel and take each day as it comes instead of trying to force yourself to feel a certain way. Feel what you feel and live through it. If it’s a good day then embrace it, listen to music and enjoy yourself. If it’s not so great, that’s fine, you don’t have to try and make yourself feel alive today just go with how you feel even if it doesn’t always feel good, know that tomorrow is a new day and always, always remember that no matter how tough things get, it won’t last because just like many other things in life this too shall pass.